BARBARY STATES. 




OLIVER & BOYD, EDINBURGH. 



HISTORY 



PRESENT CONDITION 



THE BARBARY STATES : 



COMPREHENDING A VIEW OF 



THEIR CIVIL INSTITUTIONS, ANTIQUITIES, ARTS, RELIGION, 
LITERATURE, COMMERCE, AGRICULTURE, AND 
NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. 



BY THE REV. MICHAEL RUSSELL, LL.D., 

Author of " View of Ancient and Modern Egypt," " Palestine, or the 
Holy Land," " Nubia and Abyssinia," &c. 



WITH A MAP, AND ELEVEN ENGRAVINGS BY JACKSON. 



SECOND EDITION. 



EDINBURGH: 

OLIVER & BOYD, TWEEDDALE COURT; 

AND SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO., LONDON. 

MDCCCXXXV. 



Bj Transfer 
JUN I 119; 



ENTERED IN STATIONERS 1 HALL. 



Printed by Oliver & Boyd, 
Tweeddale Court, High Street. Edinburgh. 



/ 



7 



J** 

PREFACE. 



This Volume completes the plan,, originally formed 
by the Publishers of the Edinburgh Cabinet Li- 
brary, for illustrating the History, the Antiquities, 
and the Present Condition of Africa. 

In the first instance, they drew the attention of 
their readers to the progress of Discovery in that vast 
continent ; describing the natural features of its seve- 
ral kingdoms, the social state of its people, and there- 
by bringing into one view all that appeared valuable 
in the observations of those travellers, whether in 
ancient or modern times, who have sought to ex- 
plore the remote recesses of its interior. They next 
made it their endeavour to collect, within a narrow 
compass, all that is known respecting Egypt, Nu- 
bia, and Abyssinia, — those countries so full of inte- 
rest to the scholar and the antiquary, and which 
are universally acknowledged to have been the cradle 
of the arts, so far as the elements of these were com- 
municated to the inhabitants of Europe. 

The Work now presented to the Public has for 
its object an historical outline of those remarkable 
provinces which stretch along the southern shores 
of the Mediterranean, during the successive periods 
when they were occupied by the Phoenicians, the 
Romans, the Vandals, the Arabs, and the Moors ; 
as well as a delineation of their condition since they 
acknowledged the dominion of the Porte. 



6 



PREFACE. 



No one who has read the annals of Carthage can 
be ignorant of the importance once attached to this 
singular country; in which was first exhibited to 
the eye of European nations the immense political 
power that may be derived from an improved agri- 
culture,, an active commerce, and the command of 
the sea. In the plains of Tunis,, too, were fought 
those battles which confirmed the ascendency of 
Rome, and laid the foundations of that colossal em- 
pire, whose territory extended from the Danube to 
the Atlas Mountains, and from the German Ocean 
to the banks of the Euphrates. The gigantic con- 
flict between the two greatest republics of the an- 
cient world was at length determined among the 
burning sands of Numidia, or on those shores, w 7 hich, 
for many centuries, have been strangers to the civi- 
lisation and arts diffused around their camps by these 
mighty rivals for universal sovereignty. 

Nor are the kingdoms of Northern Africa less in- 
teresting in an ecclesiastical point of view. The 
names of Tertullian,, Cyprian, and Augustin, re- 
flect honour on the churches of that land ; and their 
works are still esteemed as part of those authentic 
records whence the divine derives his knowledge of 
the doctrines, the usages, and institutions of primi- 
tive Christianity. With relation to the same object, 
the inroad of the schismatical Vandals, and the con- 
quest effected by the Arabs, present subjects worthy 
of the deepest reflection, inasmuch as they led to 
the gradual deterioration of the orthodox faith, till 
it was entirely superseded by the imposture of Mo- 
hammed. On these heads the reader will find some 
important details in the Chapter on the Religion 
and Literature of the Barbarv States. 

6 



PREFACE. 



7 



The writings of recent travellers have thrown a 
fascinating light over some parts of the ancient Cy- 
renaica, — a section of the Tripoline territory, which, 
having enjoyed the benefit of Grecian learning at an 
early period, still displays the remains of architec- 
tural skill and elegance, borrowed from the inha- 
bitants of Athens and Sparta. The position of 
the several towns composing the celebrated Pen- 
tapolis, the beauty of the landscape, the fertility 
of the soil, and the magnificence of the principal 
edifices, have been, in the course of a few years, not 
only illustrated with much talent, but ascertained 
with a degree of accuracy that removes all reason- 
able doubt. The conjectures of Bruce are confirmed, 
or refuted, by the actual delineations of Beechey and 
Delia Cella. 

The modern history of Barbary is chiefly interest- 
ing from the relations which so long subsisted be- 
tween its rulers and the maritime states of Europe, 
who, in order to protect their commerce from vio- 
lence, and their subjects from captivity, found it 
occasionally expedient to enter into treaty with th^ 
lieutenants of the Ottoman government. The wars 
which, from time to time, were waged against the 
rovers of Tunis, Sallee, and Algiers, from the days 
of the Emperor Charles the Fifth down to the late 
invasion by the French, are full of incident and ad- 
venture ; presenting, in the most vivid colours, the 
triumph of educated man over the rude strength of 
the barbarian, coupled with the inefficacy of all ne- 
gotiation which rested on national faith or honour. 
The records of piracy, which, not many years ago, 
filled the whole of Christendom with terror and in- 
dignation, may now be perused with feelings of com- 



3 



PREFACE. 



placency, arising from the conviction that the power 
of the marauders has been broken, and their ravages 
finally checked. Algiers, after striking its flag to the 
fleets of Britain, was compelled to obey the soldiers 
of France, — an event that may be said to constitute 
a new era in the policy of the floors, and seems to 
hold forth a prospect, however indistinct, of civili- 
sation, industry, and the dominion of law over brutal 
force and passion, being again established through- 
out the fine provinces which extend from Cape Spar- 
tel to the Gulf of Bomba. 

The Chapter on the Commerce of the Barbary 
States indicates, at least, the sources of wealth which, 
under an enlightened rule, might be rendered avail- 
able, not only for the advantage of the natives, but 
also of the trading communities on the opposite 
shores of the Mediterranean. Every where, in the 
soil, in the climate, and in the situation of the coun- 
try, are seen scattered, with a liberal hand, the ele- 
ments of prosperity; and it is manifest that the 
plains, which were once esteemed the granary of 
Rome, might again, with the aid of modern science, 
be rendered extremely productive in the luxuries, 
as well as the necessaries, of human life. 

The assiduity of French writers, since the con- 
quest of Algiers, has afforded the means of becoming 
better acquainted than formerly with the geology 
of Northern Africa, as well as with several other 
branches of Xatural History. From the same source 
have been derived materials for the embellishments 
introduced into this volume, and also for improving 
the Map, which the reader will find prefixed. 
Edinburgh, March 16. 1835. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

ANCIENT HISTORY. 

Contrast between the present and ancient Condition of the Barbary 
States — View of ancient Manners — Remains of former Magnifi- 
cence — Revolutions in that Country at once sudden and entire — 
Countries comprehended in Barbary — Division, according to He- 
rodotus — Origin of the Term Barbary — Opinion of Leo Africanus 
— Emigrants from Asia and Arabia — Monuments which denote 
an Eastern People — Colonies from Tyre — Foundation of Carthage 
— Supposed Extent of her Territory — Remark of Polybius — Car- 
thaginians encouraged Agriculture — Various Tribes subject to 
Carthage, or in Alliance with her — The History of Carthage 
for a long Time includes that of all the Barbary States — First 
Attempt on Sicily and Sardinia — Ambitious Views of the Cartha- 
ginians — Provoke the Resentment of Alexander the Great — First 
Punic War — Carthage besieged — Second Punic War — Character 
of Hannibal — Scipio invades the Carthaginian Territory — Hanni- 
bal recalled — Is defeated at Zama — Third Punic War — Fall of 
Carthage — History of Jugurtha — Subdued by the Romans — Ma- 
rks and Sylla— Pompey and Caesar — Conclusion^ Page 17 

CHAPTER II. 

CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION OF THE 
PHCENICIAN COLONIES ON THE COAST OF BARBARY. 

Independence of the federated Towns, Utica, Leptis, &c. — Predo- 
minance of Carthage — Constancy of her Government — Its Pro- 
gress described — Originally a Monarchy, but gradually became 
aristocratical — House of Mago — Rights of the People exercised 
in public Assemblies — And in the Election of Magistrates — De- 
cided in all Questions in which the Kings and Senate could not 
agree — Constitution and Power of the Senate — The select Coun- 
cil — The Kings or Suffetes — Distinction between the King and 
a General — Some Resemblance to Roman Consuls and Hebrew 
Judges — Wise Administration of Justice — No judicial Assem- 
blies of the People — Basis of Power occupied by the Senate — 



]0 



CONTEXTS. 



Trade and Commerce of Carthage— Inherited from the Phoeni- 
cians — Her Position favourable — Engrossed the Trade of Africa 
and Southern Europe — Opposed by the Greeks at Marseilles— 
Her Intercourse with Sicily, Sardinia. Malta, and the Balearic 
Isles — The Mines of Spain attract her Notice — Carthaginian 
Dealers penetrate into Gaul — Colonies in the Atlantic— The 
western Coasts of Spain — Voyages to Britain and the Tin Islands 
— Poem of Festus Avienus — Trade in Amber — Question whe- 
ther the Carthaginians ever entered the Baltic — Voyage of 
Hanno towards the South — Colonies planted on the western 
Coast of Africa— The Towns built in that Quarter— The Car- 
thaginians discovered Madeira — The Date at which the Expe- 
ditions of Hanno and Hamilco took Place— Proofs that Carthage 
must have attained great Power and Civilisation — Her Libraries 
— Agriculture — Splendid Villas — Rich Meadows and Gardens — 
Her extensive Land-trade across the Desert — Her warlike Pro- 
pensities — Causes of her Decline and Fall, Page 57 

CHAPTER III. 

MODERN HISTORY OF THE BARB ART STATES. 

Time when the Barbary States assumed an independent Existence — 
The Libyans first inhabited Northern Africa — Influence of Phoeni- 
cian Colonies — Ancient and Modern Divisions of the Country — 
Extent of Roman Conquests — Revival of Carthage — Rebuilt from 
its own Ruins — Site and Description of it — Remains of former 
Magnificence — Mercenary Conduct of Romanus, Count of Afri- 
ca — Sufferings of the Tripolitans — Usurpation of Firmus — Vic- 
tories of Theodosius — Death of Firmus — Insurrection under Gildo 
— Wisdom and Bravery of Stilicho — Death of Gildo — Rebellion of 
Heraclian — Error of Bonifacius — He invites the Vandals — Pro- 
gress of Genseric, their General — Death of Bonifacius — Continued 
Success of the Vandals — Fall of Carthage — Severe Sufferings of 
the Inhabitants — Policy of Genseric — He creates a N'avy — Sacks 
Rome — Prosecutes a Maritime War — Marjorian meditates the 
Invasion of Africa — His Fleet is destroyed by Fire — Attempt of 
Basilicus — Loss of his Ships — Death of Genseric — Accession of 
Justinian — Usurpation of Gelimer in Africa — Belisarius takes 
the Command there — Victory over Gelimer — He reduces Car- 
tilage — Conquest of Africa — Surrender of Gelimer — Decay of the 
Vandal Power — Africa gradually relapses into Barbarism — Com- 
merce and Agriculture languish — Arrival of the Saracens — Con- 
duct of the Prefect Gregorv — Valour of Akbah — Dissension 
among the Caliphs — Akbah is slain — Conduct and Fate of Zo- 
beir — Foundation of Kairwan — Hassan retakes Carthage — The 



CONTENTS. 



11 



Greek Imperialists defeated, and finally leave the Country — The 
Moors contend for the Sovereignty — Queen Cahina — Her Success 
and Defeat — Union of the Moors and Mohammedan Arabs — ■ 
Revolt of Ibrahim — Dynasty of the Aglabites — Other Dynasties 
founded by Rostam and Edris — Rise of the Fatimites — Of the 
Zeirites— Emigration of Arabs from the Red Sea — The Almo- 
hades and Almoravides, Page 84 

CHAPTER, IV. 

RELIGION" AND LITERATURE OF THE BARBARY STATES. 

The Religion and Literature vary with the successive Inhabitants 
— Superstition of the Natives — Human Sacrifices continued by 
the Carthaginians — Worship of Melcarth, Astarte, and Baal — 
No sacred Caste or Priesthood — Religious Rites performed by 
the Chief Magistrates — Introduction of Christianity — Accom- 
plished by the Arms of Rome — Different Opinions as to the Date 
of Conversion and the Persons by whom it was effected — State- 
ments of Salvian and Augustin — Learning and Eloquence of the 
African Clergy, Tertullian, Cyprian, Lactantius, and the Bishop 
of Hippo — Works of these Divines — Death of Cyprian and An- 
gus tin — The Writings of the Latin Fathers chiefly valuable as a 
Record of Usages, Opinions, and Discipline — Church revived 
under Justinian — Invasion of the Moslem — Christian Congrega- 
tions permitted to exist under the Mohammedan Rulers — Condi- 
tions of Toleration — Africans gradually yield to the Seducements 
of the New Faith, and the Gospel is superseded by the Koran — 
Barbary States the only Country where Christianity has been to- 
tally extinguished — Attempt made to restore it by the Patriarch 
of Alexandria — FiveBishops sent toKairwan — Public Profession 
of the Gospel cannot be traced after the Twelfth Century — A 
few Christians found at Tunis in 1533 — Learning of the Arabs — 
Great Exertions of Almamoun — He collects Greek Authors, and 
causes them to be translated — He is imitated by the Fatimites of 
Africa — Science cultivated by the Mohammedans Five Hundred 
Years — Their chief Studies were Mathematics, Astronomy, and 
Chemistry — Their Progress in these Researches — Neglect Li- 
terature, properly so called — Prospect of Improvement from the 
Settlement of European Colonies in Northern Africa, 124 

CHAPTER V. 

THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

Modern Acceptation of the Term Barbary — Desert of Barca — Dis- 
trict of Marmarica — Its desolate State — Remains of ancient Im- 



12 



CONTENTS. 



provement — Derna — Natural Advantages — Habits of the People 
— Want of good Harbours — Attempt of Americans to colonize it 
— Ruins — Opinion of Pacho — Excavations and Grottos — Gyrene 
— Details by Herodotus — War with Egypt — Successes of the 
Persians — Form of Government — Cyrene subject to Egypt — 
Persians — Saracens— Present State of the Cyrenaica — Marsa- 
Suza — Ruins — Apollonia — Monuments of Christianity — Tombs 
— Theatres — Style of Architecture— Amphitheatre — Temples — 
Stadium — Hypogea — Notion of petrified Village — Account by 
Shaw — Remark by Delia Cella — Journey of Captain Smyth — 
State of Ghirza — Fountain of Apollo — Description of it — Exa- 
mined by Captain Beechey — Plain of Merge — Barca — History of 
— Doubts as to its real Position— Opinion of Delia Cella — Ptole- 
meta, or Dolmeita— Fine Situation of the Town— Streets covered 
with Grass and Shrubs — Extent of the City — Ruins — Theatres 
— Magnificent Gateway — Supposed of Egyptian Origin — Hypo- 
thesis of Delia Cella — Disputed by Captain Beechey — Taucra, or 
ancient Teuchira— Unfavourable as a Seaport— Complete Demo- 
lition of its Buildings — Ruins of two Christian Churches — Tombs 
— Variety of Greek Inscriptions — Mode of Burial— Bengazi, or 
Berenice — Miserable Condition of the Place— Plague of Flies — 
Population — Character of Inhabitants — Gardens of the Hespe- 
rides — Glowing Descriptions of them by ancient Writers — Posi- 
tion indicated by Scylax — Labours of Captain Beechey — Con- 
clusion, Page 153 

CHAPTER VI. 

TRIPOLI AND ITS IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 

Ancient Limits of the Pashalic — Great Syrtis seldom visited — Delia 
Cella and the Beecheys — Ghimines — Forts and Ruins — Tabilba 
— Remains of a Castle — Curious Arch — Braiga, a Seaport and 
strongly garrisoned — Thought to be the ancient Automala — 
Sachrin, the southern Point of the Gulf — Shape of the Bay — 
Cato, Lucan, and Sallust — Muktar — Hudia — Linoof — Mahiriga 
— Fortress — Tower of Bengerwad — Supposed to be that of Eu- 
phrantas — Charax — Medinet Sultan — Shuaisha — Hamed Ga- 
roosh — Zaffran — Habits of the Natives — Their Dress — The 
Aspis of Ancient Writers — Giraff — Cape Triero — Mesurata — 
Salt-marshes — Gulf of Zuca — Lebida — Ruins — Narrative of Cap- 
tain Smyth — Tagiura — Fertility — Tripoli — Appearance — Tri- 
poli believed to be of Moorish Origin — Old Tripoli destroyed by 
the Saracens — Opinion of Leo Africanus — Favourable Judgment 
formed by Mr Blaquiere — Moral Character of the Tripolines 



CONTENTS. 



13 



— Statement by the Author of Tully's Letters — Description 
of Tripoli by Captain Beechey — Pasha's Castle — Mosques — 
Triumphal Arch — Inhabitants divided into Moors and Arabs 
— Manner in which the Turks spend their Time — Peculiar 
Mode of conducting" Conversation — Bedouins — Their Dress 
and Manners — The Pianura or Fertile Plain — Visit to the 
Castle — Magnificence of the Apartments — Pasha's principal 
Wife — Mode of Salutation — Refreshments — History of Tripoli 
— Knights of Malta — Rajoot Rais — Admiral Blake — Sir John 
Narborough — Revolution by Hamet the Great — The Atrocities 
which attended it — Fezzan — Siwah — Augila — Marabouts — 
Scene witnessed by Captain Lyon — Drunkenness — Languages 
spoken at Tripoli, Page 209 



CHAPTER VII. 

TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 

Lands included in the Pashalic of Tunis — History resumed — Abou 
Ferez — His Court, Bodyguard, and Council — Invasion of Tunis 
by Louis IX. — Carthage reduced — Sufferings of the French — 
Death of the King- — Arrival of the Sicilian Crusaders — Failure 
of the Expedition — Rise of the two Barbarossas, Horuc and Hay- 
radin — The former invited to assist the King of Algiers — He 
murders him and seizes the Government — The Usurper defeated 
and slain — Algiers occupied by Hayradin, who courts the Protec- 
tion of the Grand Seignior — Plans an Attack on Tunis — Succeeds 
in his Attempt — Excites the Resentment of the Emperor Charles V. 
— The vast Preparations in Italy and Spain — Barbarossa prepares 
for Defence — The Goletta is taken — A general Engagement en- 
sues — The Moors are defeated and Tunis falls — TheTownis sack- 
ed and plundered — Muley Hassan restored — Conditions — Exploits 
of Barbarossa — Spaniards expelled by Selim II. — Tunisians elect 
a Dey — Government settled in a Bey — Rise of Hassan Ben Ali 
—Power absolute — Administration of Justice — Description of 
Tunis — Soil and Climate — Army — Superstitions — Manners and 
Customs — Character of the Moors — Avarice of the late Bey — , 
Population of the Regency — Revenue — Intemperance — Anecdote 
of Hamooda — Description of Carthage — Cisterns and Aqueduct 
— Remains of a Temple — Appearance during the Fourth and 
Fifth Centuries — Details by Edrisi — Remark by Chateaubriand — 
Bizerta — Utica — Hammam Leif — Sidi Doud — Kalibia — Ghurba 
— Nabal — Keff — Tubersoke — Herkla — Sahaleel — Monasteer — 
Lempta — Agar — Demass — Sallecto — Woodlif — Gabes — Jemme 
— Sfaitla — Gilma — Casareene — Feriana, 262 



14 



CONTEXTS. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 

Origin of the Term Algiers — Importance attached to its History — 
Boundaries of the State — Appearance of the Town — Its Interior 
— Population — Fortifications — Narrow Streets — History resum- 
ed — Charles V. resolves to attack Algiers — His Force — Prepa- 
rations of Hassan Aga — Storm disables the Spaniards — Loss of 
Ships and Men — Sufferings of the Army — Scattered at Sea — For- 
titude of the Emperor — These Hostilities had an earlier Origin 
— Policy of Cardinal Ximenes — Success of his Measures — 
Moors revolt, and invite Barbarossa — Spaniards deprived of Oran 
— Expedition of Philip V. — Oran destroyed by an Earthquake — 
French attack Algiers under Beaulieu — And under Duquesne — 
The City and Batteries destroyed — The Dutch, Danes, Swedes, 
Austrians, and Russians, adopt different Measures — English make 
several Efforts to reduce the Corsairs — Insults during the Reign 
<jf George II — Resolutions by Congress of Vienna — Expedition 
of Lord Esmouth — Attack on Algiers — Terms acceded to — 
Captives released — French Government offended — Expedition 
under Bourmont — Account by Rozet — Present State of Algiers — 
Revenue — War between Algiers and Tunis — Bona — Tabarca — 
La Cala — Constantina — Antiquities — Mileu — Remains — Bujeya 
— Province of Titteri — Bleeda and Medea — Burgh Hamza — Au- 
zea — Beni Mezzab — Province of Tlemsan — Capital — Arbaal — 
El Herba — Maliana — Aquae CalidaeColonia — Oran — Recent His- 
tory — Inhabitants — Geeza— Carastel — Mostagan — Jol, or Julia 
Caesarea — Tefessad — Shershell — Vicinity of Algiers — French 
Government— Attempt at Colonization— Difficulties — Favourable 
Climate and Soil — European Powers invited to co-operate — Late 
Publications on the Subject, , Page 314 

CHAPTER, IX. 

EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 

Boundaries of Morocco — Extent — Divisions — Fertility — Produc- 
tions — Not fully cultivated — Metallic Treasures, Iron, Copper, 
Gold, and Silver— Population— History— Aglabites— Edrisites — 
Fatimites — Zuhites — Hamadians — Abn-Hassians — Abdallah- 
ben-Jasin — Almoravides — Almohades — Merinites — Oatazi — 
Shereef Hassan — Various Races of Men— Administration of Jus- 
tice Rude Government — Oppression — Court-dress — Arrogance 

of the Moors — Their patient Endurance — Equality of Rank — 
Mode of eating — Ceremony of Marriage — Religion — Treatment 
of Christians and Jews— Revenue— Melilla— Velez— Tetuan— 



CONTENTS. 



15 



Ceuta — Tangier — Arzillah — El Haratch — Melieduma — Sallee — 
Rabat — Schella — Mazagan — Mogadore — Agadeer — Morocco 
— Population — Palace — Fez — Edifices — Decayed State — Tero- 
dant — Mequinez — Royal Residence — Manners of Inhabitants, 

Page 374 

CHAPTER X. 

COMMERCE OF THE BARBAE, Y STATES. 

Benefits expected from a Trade with Africa — Plan of Bonaparte 
and Talleyrand to raise in it colonial Produce — French have 
alwa} T s maintained commercial Relations with Barbary — The 
Fertility of Central Africa — The Congo and Niger — Market at 
Bengazi — Ancient Trade of the Genoese — Exports from Tunis — 
Imports — Commercial Lists of that Pashalic — Trade diminished 
— Bad Policy of the Bey — System of Licenses — Coins, Weights, 
and Measures, at Tunis — Trade of Algiers carried on by the Cor- 
sairs — Imports resemble those of Tunis — Manufactures and Ex- 
ports — Mode of Shipbuilding — Present State of Commerce at 
Algiers — Trade with France, England, Italy, Spain, and Tunis — 
Trade of Morocco — Mogadore — Total Value of Exports and Im- 
ports — Intercourse with Negro Nations — Coins, Weights, and 
Measures — Physical Advantages of Northern Africa — Hopes of 
Improvement, 404 

CHAPTER XI. 

NATURAL HISTORY. 

Additional Knowledge of Africa supplied by the French — Geology 
— Great and Little Atlas — Structure of the former — Succeeded 
by Tertiary Rocks— Supposed Extent of the Greater Atlas — 
Cyrenean Mountains — Reflections on the Desert — Relics of or- 
ganized Bodies — Transition-rocks — Limestone — Talc-slate — 
Mineral Species — Secondary Formation — Limestone-shales — 
Marlstones and Sandstone- Embedded Minerals — Extent of the 
Little Atlas — Metals — Tertiary Rocks — Calcareous Sandstone, 
Clays, Porphyry, Dolerite, Greenstone, and Basalt — Blue Marl 
or London-clay — Organic Remains — Volcanic Rocks — Diiuvian 
Formation — Soil of Metijah — Postdiluvian Formation — Uniform 
Operation of General Laws — Zoology — Scorpions and Ser- 
pents — Buska— Effah — Boah — Locusts — Quadrupeds — Horreh 
— Aoudad — Nimmer — Heirie — Camel — Desert-horse — Birds — 
Ostrich — El Rogr — Tibib — El Hage — Graab el Sahara — Kara- 
burno— Burourou— Botany — List of Plants — Hashisha— Eu- 
phorbium — Silphium — Medicinal Qualities — Opinions of Delia 
Cella and Beechey — Reflections, 419 



ENGRAVINGS. 



Map of the Barbary States, To face the Vignette. 

Vignette — Fountain on the Road to Mount Bou Zaria. 

Berbers, Page 8f> 

Moorish Artisan and Female, 119 

Coffeehouse and School at Byrmadrais, 150 

Rich Moor and Female, 240 

Moorish Lady and Fashionable Moor, 28*7 

View of Algiers from the Land, 318 

View of a Street in Algiers, 324 

Gate and Fountain of Bab el Ouad, 346 

View of Oran, 361 

Aqueduct of Mustapha Pasha, 367 



HISTORY 

AND 

PRESENT CONDITION 

OF 

THE BARBARY STATES. 



CHAPTER I. 

Ancient History. 

Contrast between the present and ancient Condition of the Barbarj 
States — View of ancient Manners — Remains of former Magnifi- 
cence — Revolutions in that Country at once sudden and entire — 
Countries comprehended in Barbary — Division, according to He- 
rodotus — Origin of the Term Barbary — Opinion of Leo Africanus 
— Emigrants from Asia and Arabia — Monuments which denote 
an Eastern People — Colonies from Tyre — Foundation of Carthage 
— Supposed Extent of her Territory — Remark of Polybius — Car- 
thaginians encouraged Agriculture — Various Tribes subject to 
Carthage, or in Alliance with her — The History of Carthage 
for a long Time includes that of all the Barbary States — 
First Attempt on Sicily and Sardinia — Ambitious Views of the 
Carthaginians — Provoke the Resentment of Alexander the Great 
— First Punic War — Carthage besieged — Second Punic War — 
Character of Hannibal — Scipio invades the Carthaginian Ter- 
ritory — Hannibal recalled — Is defeated at Zama — Third Punic 
War — Fall of Carthage — History of Jugurtha — Subdued by the 
Romans — Marius and Sylla — Pompey and Caesar — Conclusion. 

In entering upon a description of the Barbary 
States, the mind naturally turns, in the first in- 
stance, to a comparison of their actual condition, 

A 



18 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



morally and politically considered, with the civili- 
sation to which they formerly attained under more 
enlightened governors. The contrast thus presented 
is rendered still more striking hy a reference to the 
literature and science of Europe, of which the ele- 
ments were in many cases derived from the north- 
ern shores of Africa ; as well when the Phoenicians 
extended their power to the Pillars of Hercules, as 
when the lieutenants of the Caliph exercised au- 
thority over the mixed tribes who were compelled 
to acknowledge their dominion. 

Nowhere, indeed, is the effect of wise institu- 
tions more clearly distinguished than at the point 
whence the philosophical eye marks the difference 
which prevails on the opposite sides of the Mediter- 
ranean. From the mountains of Spain the specta- 
tor may comprehend, at one glance, the abode of 
nations which, though in geographical position not 
farther distant than a voyage of a few hours, are ne- 
vertheless, in respect of religion, learning, and all 
the arts and feelings of social life, removed from one 
another by the lapse of many centuries. In passing 
the narrow channel which separates these two quar- 
ters of the globe, the traveller finds himself carried 
back to the manners and habits of ages long past, 
and witnesses, as it were, a revival of scenes which 
must have attracted the notice of the earliest histo- 
rians of the human race. On the one hand, he be- 
holds an order of men who, like the patriarchs of 
Arabia, are still engaged with the occupations of 
the pastoral state, living in tents, and sustaining 
themselves on the produce of their flocks. On the 
other, he may see a community devoting their cares 
to the pursuits of traffic, and, like the ancient Ish- 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



19 



maelites, carrying the commodities of foreign lands 
across their wide deserts ; thereby connecting in the 
bonds of commercial intercourse the remotest na- 
tions of the Old World. In a third section of North- 
ern Africa his attention will be drawn to numerous 
tribes who, adopting partially the usages of both 
the other classes, refuse to abide by either; but, 
like the descendants of Esau, with their hands 
lifted against every man who crosses their path, 
esteem it their highest honour to impose tribute and 
enrich themselves on spoil. 

Nor is the contrast less remarkable, when the pre- 
sent aspect of the country is compared with the 
magnificence and cultivation which adorned it dur- 
ing several ages. In no other region of the earth 
has the flood of time committed ravages so extensive 
and deplorable, obliterating nearly all the traces of 
improvement, and throwing down the noblest works 
of art. Amidst the sand, accordingly, which covers 
the remains of ancient towns, are to be seen the 
finest specimens of architectural skill, mingled with 
the relics of a taste and luxury which distinguished 
the later years of the Roman empire. The fields, 
which once bore the most abundant crops, are now 
either deformed by the encroachments of the Desert, 
or overgrown with useless weeds and poisonous 
shrubs; while baths, porticos, bridges, theatres, and 
triumphal arches, have mouldered into ruins, or 
sunk under the hands of the barbarous inhabitants. 

No people, once civilized, retain so few marks of 
having risen above savage life as the present Moors 
and Arabs of Barbary. All other nations, however 
depressed with regard to power, wealth, and science, 
continue to exhibit some proofs of their former great- 



20 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



ness, and to vindicate,, at least by their recollections 
and desires, the rank which their ancestors enjoyed 
in ancient times. The Jews, the Egyptians, the 
Greeks, and the Romans, though now little more 
than the nominal representatives of distinguished 
empires, cherish the memory of what they were ; 
extol the exploits of their fathers, and admire their 
works ; hoping even to restore their fortunes and to 
emulate their fame in a more auspicious age. But 
the rude tribes of Africa are strangers to all such 
ennobling sentiments. They know not that their 
country was one of the first seats of government and 
commerce, and took the lead, at an early period, in 
all the attainments which exalt human nature, and 
confer the highest blessings on society. They for- 
get that Carthage held long suspended between her- 
self and Rome the scales of universal dominion ; 
that her provinces were opulent and enlightened ; 
that she could boast of renowned sages and learned 
fathers of the church ; and that some of her towns 
were on a footing of equality with the most cele- 
brated in antiquity. Ignorant, moreover, of the 
history of those monuments which still give an in- 
terest to their wild shores and dreary plains, they 
even make haste to deface every thing whereon in- 
genuity has been lavished, and to remove every 
token which might serve as an evidence that men 
more polished than themselves had occupied their 
cities or ploughed their fieldsj 

These facts will appear less inexplicable, when it 
is called to mind that the revolutions in Barbary 
have, for the most part, been not only sudden and 
complete, but that, being brought about by nations 
who had very little in common with those which 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



21 



they subdued, an entire change was introduced as 
often as new masters assumed the government. 
The Saracens, for example, who marched under the 
banners of Mohammed, had no respect for the in- 
stitutions of the Romans, whether conveyed thither 
from Italy or from the shores of the iEgean Sea. On 
the contrary, those fierce warriors felt themselves 
impelled by religious zeal to root out whatever had 
been planted by Christians, — to demolish the edifices 
in which they had worshipped, — to destroy the em- 
blems of their faith, — and to treat with scorn every 
usage which could be traced to the hated Nazarenes. 
The barbarians who humbled the European portion 
of the empire, yielded their reverence, and even 
their belief, to the magnificent and imposing ritual 
of the Church. Their own tenets were so ill defined, 
and rested on principles so extremely vague, that 
they were easily capable of amalgamating with any 
other system which simply recognised the doctrine 
of a Divine Providence, and the sanctions of a fu- 
ture state, as the reward of the good and the punish- 
ment of the guilty. But the disciples of the Koran 
were not allowed to make terms with the professors 
of any rival creed. An acknowledgment of their pro- 
phet, as an inspired messenger sent by Heaven, was 
ever held as a condition quite indispensable to the 
enjoyment of security, and even of those ordinary 
privileges in life, without which man may be said 
to forfeit all the advantages of associating with his 
fellow-creatures. Hence the irruption of the Ara- 
bian host produced, on the face of Upper Africa, 
effects hardly less violent and universal than if a 
second deluge had swept over it. The past could 
not have been more profoundly forgotten, and the 



22 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



labours of former generations could scarcely have 
more entirely disappeared. 

The countries included under the general descrip- 
tion of Barbary, and of which it is our intention in 
the present work to give an account, may be con- 
veniently understood as extending from the Desert 
of Barca on the east to Cape Nun on the west ; a 
space which comprehends the Cyrenaica, Tripoli, 
Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco, and embraces more 
than 2000 miles of coast. It is true that the first of 
the districts now specified is not usually attached to 
the Barbary States, being more closely connected 
with Egypt, both by its historical relations and its 
natural affinity. But as the celebrated towns, com- 
posing the Pentapolis of ancient authors, were not 
described in our volume on the kingdom of the Pha- 
raohs, we have thought it expedient to introduce 
them here, in order that we may fully complete our 
undertaking, and lay before the readers of the Ca- 
binet Library all that is known respecting the great 
continent of Africa. The breadth of the territory 
which thus falls under our notice varies very much 
at different parts, according to the proximity of the 
sandy waste by which it is bounded on the south ; 
and this uncertainty is still farther increased by the 
occasional movements of the Sahara itself, which, so 
far from being permanently fixed, is found from 
time to time invading the cultivated lands. 

According to Herodotus, the north of Africa is 
divided into three regions, which he distinguishes 
into inhabited land, the wild-beast country, and 
the desert ; an arrangement strictly corresponding 
to the modern classification of Barbary, properly so 
called ; the Blaid el Jerid, or region of dates ; and 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



23 



the Sahara. The first section contains Mauritania, 
Numidia, the territory of Carthage, Cyrenaica, and 
Marmarica ; that is, the northern parts of the pre- 
sent kingdoms of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, 
and Barca. It was not without reason that the fa- 
ther of history conferred upon this extensive tract 
the epithet of habitable ; for, though at certain parts 
its continuity is broken by the approach of the sands, 
it is, generally speaking, uncommonly productive. 
By the Romans, indeed, it was, next to Egypt, es- 
teemed their granary ; and its abundant returns 
long enabled the Carthaginians to maintain armies 
able to cope with the conquerors of Europe. 

Beyond this favoured region a chain of mountains 
runs across the continent, beginning at the shores of 
the Atlantic, and reaching the boundaries of Egypt. 
The whole line, it is true, has not been examined 
by recent travellers ; but the opinions of the ablest 
geographers favour the conclusion that, though it 
occasionally sinks to the level of the Desert, the 
range may be distinctly traced from the neighbour- 
hood of the Nile to the Western Ocean. Its loftiest 
and broadest part, bearing the name of Atlas, oc- 
cupies the southern provinces of Morocco and Al- 
giers ; and in this vicinity, where water abounds, 
there are many wild beasts, — the ground of the dis- 
tinction attributed to it by Herodotus. The later 
Greek and Roman writers called it Getulia; and 
it is celebrated by their poets as the native haunt of 
savage animals. By the Arabs, however, as already 
suggested, it is named the Land of Dates, from the 
vast quantity of that fruit which grows there, and 
which constitutes an article of food and of commerce 
extremely important to the various tribes who fre« 



24 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



quent its borders. The whole region comprises the 
southern side of Atlas, together with the territory 
lying near it, extending as far as the Great Desert, 
between the 26th and 30th degrees of north la- 
titude.* 

This country, which is fertile only in those places 
where water is found, loses itself by degrees in the 
Sahara, the desert of Herodotus. Like the hills just 
mentioned, this barren tract occupies the entire 
breadth of Africa, and even stretches through Ara- 
bia and Persia into the provinces of Northern India. 
The width of the sandy belt is not every where the 
same ; the greatest being in the western parts, be- 
tween Morocco and the Negro Country, and the 
narrowest between the present states of Tripoli and 
Kassina, where also the oases, — those fruitful patches 
of well- watered ground, — occur most frequently in 
the path of the caravans. It becomes again much 
broader as it approaches Egypt ; and, finally, forms 
a junction with the wilderness of Nubia, and thence, 



* Every classical scholar will call to mind the poetical descrip- 
tion which Virgil has given of Mount Atlas : 

— u Iamqne volans apicem et latera ardua cernit 
Atlantis duri, ccelum qui vertice fulcit : 
Atlantis, cinctum assidue cui nubibus atris 
Piniferum caput et vento pulsatur et imbri : 
Nix humeros infusa tegit : turn flumina mento 
Praecipitant senis, et glade riget horrida barba." 

iENEiDOS, lib. iv. 

<c Thus arna'd, the god begins his airy race, 

And drives the racking clouds along the liquid space ; 

Now sees the top of Atlas as he flies, 

Whose brawn\ T back supports the starry skies — 

Atlas, whose head, with piny forests crown'd, 

Is beaten by the winds — with foggy vapours bound : 

Snows hide his shoulders : from beneath his chin 

The founts of rolling streams their race begin : 

A beard of ice on his large breast depends," kc — Drydex. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



25 



it is probable, with the central portion of the Afri- 
can continent.* 

The origin of the term Barbary is lost, as well in 
the obscurity of the original language as in the fan- 
ciful hypotheses which have been framed to illus- 
trate its meaning and application. Leo Africanus 
has recorded certain opinions entertained on this 
subject by those who wrote before his days, adding 
his own reflections, of which it may not be deemed 
severe to remark, that they tend not in the slightest 
degree to remove the darkness wherewith he found 
the inquiry enveloped. According to his authorities, 
the word Ber signifies a desert, while others, on 
the contrary, maintain that it denotes a rich soil ; 
the duplication of the term, Berber, conveying the 
happy discovery that the land along the coast ap- 
peared unusually fertile, more especially to eyes fa- 
tigued with the bare and monotonous aspect of the 
wilderness, t 

Little aid can be derived from the classical au- 
thors, who took more delight in gratifying their 
imaginations than in storing their minds with 
knowledge. To them Africa appeared much in the 
same light as India and China did to the writers of 
the middle ages ; and, while they crowded it with 
wonders of magnificence and splendour, they intro- 
duced into it all the monstrous and most terrific 
productions of nature. A tradition had reached the 

* Heeren's Historical Researches, vol. i. p. 7« Herodotus, 
book ii. c. 32, and book iv. c. 81. 

-j- Hujus subf usci coloris incoise appellati sunt nomine Barbar, a 
verbo Barbara quod eorum idioraate idem sonat quod Latinis raur- 
muro : eo quod Africanus sermo Arabibus non aliter sonet quam 
beluarum vox, quae nullo accentu suas edunt vociferationes. Alii 
volant Barbar nomen replicatum esse, eo quod Bar ling-ua Arabica 
desertum denotet. — Africae Descrip. lib. prim. p. 12. 



26 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



ears of Sallust, the historian, that a mixed horde of 
Asiatics, led by the fabled hero Hercules, after ad- 
vancing to the western shores of Spain and losing 
their chief, sought employment for their arms in 
Africa ; where, it was supposed, they finally incor- 
porated with the natives, and assumed a new name. 
The Persians, it is said, upon landing on the de- 
solate shore, inverted their barks and used them for 
dwellings ; supplying, as the annalist suggests, a 
pattern for the Numidian cottages, even as they 
existed in his own days.* 

Procopius has pledged his credit for the truth of 
a legend still more ancient than the one now quoted, 
and assures his readers that, in the time of the war 
with the Vandals, when he accompanied the great 
Belisarius into Africa in quality of secretary, there 
were yet to be seen, near a fountain at Tangier, two 
columns of white stone, whereon were inscribed, in 
the Phoenician tongue, the following words : — " We 
fly from the robber Joshua, the son of Nun/' What- 
ever accuracy there may be in this statement, there 
is no doubt that the northern parts of the African 
continent must have been peopled by emigrants 
from Asia. If any confidence can be placed in those 
traditionary records which descend from father to 
son, and constitute the history of all barbarous na- 
tions, it must be believed that successive multitudes, 
armed and unarmed, sought in the less populous coun- 
tries which stretch out on either side of the Mediter- 
ranean a refuge from the tyranny of Asiatic conquer- 
ors. The Moors narrate that their origin may be 
traced to Sabsea, a district of Arabia, whence their an- 



* Sallust. Bell. Jugurth. c. 18. — Iique alveos navium in versos 
pro tuguriis habuere. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



27 



cestors, under their king Ifricki, were expelled by a 
superior force, and reduced to the necessity of seeking 
a new home in the remote regions of the West. 
This inroad, which could not be accomplished with- 
out violence, drove the older inhabitants from the 
vicinity of the coast into the less fertile tracts that 
border on the Desert ; where they appear to have 
provided for their defence by forming caves in the 
mountains, as well as by erecting fortresses in strong 
passes and ravines. Even at the present day, there 
are found in Southern Numidia the remains of 
towns and castles, which present an air of very great 
antiquity. The Arabs, disdaining the protection of 
walls and the restraint of a stationary life, carried 
into Africa their wonted habits ; preferring the 
moveable tent to the " city which hath foundations/' 
and watching their numerous flocks over unlimited 
pastures, rather than submitting to the drudgery of 
agriculture or of manufactures. The earlier inha- 
bitants appear to have been less erratic in their mode 
of life, and, like the Egyptians, with whom, it is 
not improbable, they were connected, fond of exca- 
vating dwellings in the rocks, and of erecting lofty 
structures for ornament or safety. Hence the ruins, 
to which allusion has just been made, in the inte- 
rior of Morocco, and which must owe their origin to 
a people different from the Sabseans, who are sup- 
posed to have expelled them from their seats.* 

Whoever were the original possessors of Africa, 
it is confirmed by the general voice of history that 
the Phoenicians, about 900 years before the Chris- 
tian era, founded a variety of colonies along its 



* Procop. de Bello Vandal, lib. ii. p. 37. Morgan's Complete 
History of Algiers, p. 9. 



28 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



shores. The narrow territory on the Asiatic coast 
originally occupied by this enterprising people, who 
had already carried their trade to all parts of the 
known world, soon suggested the expediency of re- 
moving the superabundant population to less crowd- 
ed countries. Political broils on many occasions 
produced the same effect ; sending the disaffected 
from the parent state to seek an asylum in remote 
regions, where their opinions could not be so strictly 
watched, and where their impatient spirits would 
be freed from the control of an imperious master. 
But other motives, unconnected either with com- 
merce or civil liberty, might also operate in with- 
drawing inhabitants from the Phoenician monarchy. 
Carthage, the most powerful of their settlements, 
according to a tradition, the truth of which there is 
no reason to question, owed its origin to the crime 
of a king of Tyre, who, urged by avarice or ambi- 
tion, murdered his brother-in-law, the priest of Mel- 
carth, their national god. Many of the citizens, 
offended and alarmed by this atrocity, resolved to 
leave their native land; and placing themselves un- 
der Elissa, the widow of the murdered prince, they 
put to sea, and directed their course towards Africa. 
They disembarked in the bay in which Tuneta and 
Utica were already built ; and fixing on a narrow 
promontory which runs out into the sea, they agreed 
to pay for it a price, or perhaps an annual tribute, 
to the Libyans, who claimed the property of the soil. 
Here they erected a place of defence, to which they 
gave the name of Betzura, the fort or stronghold, 
but which the Greeks, according to their usual prac- 
tice, changed into Byrsa, a term referable to their 
own tongue ; and as this word, so interpreted, de- 



ANCIENT HISTOHY. 



29 



notes the skin of a bullock, they invented the popu- 
lar tale, describing how the Tyrians imposed upon 
the unsuspecting savages in the bargain for their first 
possession. Appian gravely remarks, that the Af- 
ricans laughed at the folly of Dido, who begged only 
for so small a quantity of land as she could cover 
with the hide of an ox, but much admired the sub- 
tlety of her contrivance in cutting it into thongs.* 

Virgil, using the privilege of a poet, has raised 
upon the facts now stated a beautiful fiction, which, 
like the Paradise Lost of the great Milton, conveys 
a commentary so striking as to. supersede, in ardent 
minds, ail recollection of the more scanty record 
which it was meant to illustrate. Regardless of 
dates, he connects the voyage of iEneas, after the 
fall of Troy, with the expedition of the Tyrian prin- 
cess to the coast of Libya, and thereby interests his 
reader in the early fates of those two proud common- 
wealths, whose mutual strife so long agitated the 
shores of the Mediterranean, and dyed its waves 
with blood. The accuracy with which the bay of 
Carthage is described may justify a quotation, which, 
though not comparable to the splendid original, will 
communicate at least a topographical outline of the 
scene :— 

* Appian in Lybicis. 

The word Betzura, Bitzra, or Bozrah, is of Hebrew etymology, 
and signifies a fort or castle. It is the name of the Idumean capital, 
the chief town in the country of Edom Morgan, p. 10. 

The legend of the ox-hide seems to have gone round the world. 
Hussun Subah, the chief of the Assassins, is said to have acquired in 
the same manner the hill-fort of Allahamowt. The Persians maintain 
that the British got Calcutta in the same way. An English tradi- 
tion avers that it was by a similar trick Hengist and Horsa got a 
settlement in the Isle of Thanet ; and it is somewhere stated, that 
this was the mode by which one of our colonies in America obtain- 
ed their land of the Indians. — Foreign Quarterly Review, No. 
xxvii. p. 213. 



30 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

44 "Within a long- recess there lies a bav : 
An island shades it from the rolling sea, 
And forms a port secure for ships to ride : 
Broke by the jutting land on either side, 
In double streams the brin} T waters glide : 
Betwixt two rows of rocks : a sylvan scene 
Appears above, and groves for ever green : 
A grot is form'd beneath, with mossy seats, 
To rest the Nereids, and exclude the heats, 
Down through the crannies of the living- walls, 
The crystal streams descend in murm ring- falls. 
No halsers need to bind the vessels here, 
Nor bearded anchors ; for no storms they fear."* 

It has been remarked, that Carthage was from 
the beginning an independent state, after the model 
of the trading towns which were planted along the 
Phoenician coast. Tyre and her colony, without 
claiming dominion or acknowledging subjection, ob- 
served towards one another that mutual regard, 
which, in those early times, was expected between 
communities sprung from the same root. The for- 
mer, as Herodotus observes, constantly refused to 
Cambyses the use of her fleet, whenever he wished 
to attack Carthage and the latter granted a place 
of refuge to the inhabitants of Tyre, when that city 
was besieged by Alexander the Great. She like- 
wise continued a long time towards her neighbours 
the pacific policy which her original condition ren- 
dered expedient. Built on the margin of an ex- 
tensive continent, peopled by fierce and lawless tribes, 
she endeavoured to maintain a good understanding 
with the original nations that occupied the adjoin- 
ing territory ; and it is said that the rent which 
she consented to pay to the lords of the soil was con- 
tinued till the days of Darius Hystaspes. There are, 

* Dryden's translation of the JSneid, book i. line 228, &c. 
u Kst in secessu longo locus ; insula portum 
Efficit objectu laterum," &c. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



31 



no doubt, in the earliest history of her citizens,, un- 
questionable proofs that she departed from this ami- 
cable policy as soon as she found herself sufficiently 
strong to dispute the pretensions of the Libyan 
princes, and even had recourse to arms,, in order to 
vindicate her independence, or to extend her borders. 
Opposed to uncivilized hordes, the Carthaginian ge- 
nerals usually found their efforts crowned with 
success ; though it is admitted that, by their con- 
quests, they only obtained subjects who embraced 
every opportunity to throw off their yoke. 

No records are left which might enable the his- 
torian at this distant period to determine the extent 
to which they carried their triumphs over the na- 
tives, or what were the conditions proposed to the 
vanquished as the vassals of this rising republic. 
Those who imagine that they subdued all Barbary, 
or indeed any very considerable part of it, are charge- 
able with a great mistake ; though some writersjiave 
gone so far as to assert that the whole of Northern 
Africa submitted to their sway, and that the Mau- 
ritanian princes had consented to receive their dia- 
dems from the senate of Carthage. The Latin 
authors, however, do not warrant the conclusion 
that they were at any time masters of more land 
than that which constituted the province usually 
associated with their name, together with the prin- 
cipal harbours between the eastern confines of Tri- 
poli and the shores of the Atlantic. There is be- 
sides good reason to infer, that in ordinary circum- 
stances their authority did not extend much beyond 
the walls of their seaport towns, especially of those 
which, more with the view of pursuing commerce 
than of enlarging their dominions, or of establish- 



32 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



ing political power, they had been permitted to erect 
within the boundaries of Numidia.* 

The writings of Polybius afford the most authen- 
tic information that can now be obtained respecting 
the territorial possessions of Carthage at the time 
when she first began to attract the attention of Eu- 
rope. Speaking of the Africans who fought in her 
armies, he always makes a distinction between her 
proper subjects and the free people who served for 
pay. The former he universally calls Libyans, ne- 
ver applying to them any more particular or cha- 
racteristic appellation ; while on the mercenaries 
he confers the epithet of Nomades or Xumidians, — 
a title which suited a great variety of tribes who 
followed the same wandering mode of life, inherited, 
it is probable, from their Arabian ancestors. These 
roving clans acknowledged no master, — thinking 
that they humbled themselves sufficiently when 
they condescended to use their arms for a stated 
recompense, under the banner of their allies. The 
others, who practised husbandry, having settled 
abodes and a fixed property, consented to purchase 
protection by surrendering their precarious freedom, 
as well as by agreeing to pay an annual tax levied 
upon the produce of their lands. It is, accordingly, 
observed by the historian just cited, that the tri- 
bute imposed on the Libyans was for the most part 
paid in grain : and, as has been already stated, it 
was principally with the produce of their industry 
that the Carthaginians were enabled to maintain 
those numerous armies with which they made their 
conquests in foreign countries. 



* Heeren's Reflections on the Politics, Intercourse, and Trade 
of the Ancient Nations of Africa, p. 53, &c. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



33 



It would appear that these Libyans were indebted 
to the Tyrian colonists for the important knowledge 
of agriculture, which in all ages has proved the 
main source of civilisation and social improvement. 
In the time of Herodotus, the most flourishing era 
of the Carthaginian state, no people who cultivated 
land was to be found beyond the limits of their ter- 
ritory ; all the native tribes between Egypt and 
the Lesser Syrtis being still in the more primitive 
condition of shepherds, removing from place to place 
over the wide surface of the Desert. But imme- 
diately to the westward, he remarks, cc we find na- 
tions who till the ground/' Of these he specifies 
three, — the Maxyes, the Zaucees, and the Zygantes, 
— all of whom appear to have been very recently re- 
claimed from the rudest habits of savage life, as they 
still continued to cut their hair in the most fantas- 
tical manner, and to paint their bodies with vermi- 
lion. The Maxyes, to whom these remarks princi- 
pally apply, pretended that they were sprung from 
the Trojans. Their country, we are farther told, 
and indeed all the western parts of Libya, is much 
more woody and infested with wild beasts than 
that where the Nomades reside ; for the abode of 
these latter, in proportion as it stretches to the east- 
ward, becomes more low and sandy. From hence, 
continues Herodotus, towards the west, where those 
dwell who plough the land, the region is mountain- 
ous, full of trees, and abounding with wild beasts. 
Here are found serpents of an enormous size, lions, 
elephants, bears, asps, and asses with horns.* 

This author, who did not travel in the western 
districts of Africa, must have received the materials 

* Herodot. Melpomene, c. 186-193. 

B 



34 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



of that part of his history which has now been quot- 
ed from native writers, to whose authority, indeed, 
he occasionally refers. There can be no doubt, 
however, that there were, in the vicinity of the At- 
las range, many tribes whose names had not reached 
him, and who, from time to time, appear in the 
muster-roll of the Carthaginian army. Some no- 
tion of their numbers may be formed from the fact 
mentioned by Polybius, that, in the unfortunate 
war which the republic waged with her mercenary 
troops, after the termination of her first conflict with 
Rome, no fewer than 70,000 of them were in the 
field.* 

To prevent such insurrections, which threatened 
the stability of their power, the rulers of the com- 
monwealth encouraged the settlement of small colo- 
nies of citizens among the agricultural nations 
on their southern frontier. Adopting in this respect 
the policy of their European rivals, they endeavoured 
to gain the support of their neighbours, by extend- 
ing to them the benefit of their institutions and the 
honour of their kindred. This expedient gave rise 
to a distinction in the African race, which is marked 
in history as the Libv-Phcenician, — a class who 
differed from the original inhabitants of the coun- 
try, of which they are said to have occupied the 
richest and most fruitful parts. This circumstance 
has not escaped the notice of Aristotle, who describes 
it as the surest method for retaining the good- will of 
the people ; as it prevented the too great increase of 
the lower orders in the capital, and, by a proper dis- 
tribution of lands, placed the poorer citizens in bet- 
ter circumstances. In this way, says he, Carthage, 



* Polvb. lib. i. c. 6. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



35 



preserved the love of her subjects. She continually 
sends out colonies of the townsmen into the districts 
around heir, and thereby makes them men of proper- 
ty ; the best proof of a mild and intelligent govern- 
ment, who assist the poor by inuring them to labour.* 
During several centuries, the history of Carthage 
comprehended that of the whole of Northern Africa, 
the scanty remains of which can now only be glean- 
ed from the volumes of the Greek and Latin authors. 
It is much to be regretted that all the works of na- 
tive writers have perished ; having fallen a prey to 
various accidents, as well perhaps as to the neglect 
of their haughty conquerors, who had no desire that 
the gallant efforts of a falling state should be re- 
corded by any less partial pen than their own. In 
the days of Saliust, several records were still in 
existence, from which he drew some of the facts 
which he has incorporated in his Life of Jugurtha ; 
but the ruin of the noble family to whom they be- 
longed gave occasion to their loss, which has since 
proved irretrievable. We learn, however, from the 
annals of Josephus, as well as from a few incidental 
notices in the Sacred Scriptures, that, about 600 
years before the Christian era, the Carthaginians 
had attained to such a degree of power as to brave 
the resentment of the King of Babylon. This mo- 
narch, as has been already mentioned, laid siege to 
Tyre, which, after thirteen years' labour, he re- 
duced to submission ; but he did not accomplish his 
object without encountering the arms of the African 
colonists, who sent both sea and land forces to assist 
their mother-country.t 

* Arist. Polit. lib. ii. c. 11. 

•f Joseph. Cont. Apion. lib. i. Ezekiel, chapters xxvi. xxvii. 



36 



Ancient history. 



After the lapse of half a century, the people of 
Carthage, who, like the nation whence they sprang, 
knew the value of commerce, endeavoured to esta- 
blish their authority in the islands of the Meditefr 
ranean. Their first attempts on Sicily and Sar- 
dinia were attended with so little success, that a dis- 
turbance was excited between those who planned 
the war and the leaders who were appointed to con- 
duct it. But the object appeared, in the eyes of 
the senate, to possess so much importance, that new 
efforts were made, and larger armies were raised, in 
order to bring it to a favourable issue. It is related 
by Diodorus Siculus, that, in the year of Rome 280, 
Amilcar, at the head of 300,000 men, invaded Si- 
cily, carrying with him 2000 ships of war, and a 
greater number of transports. These immense pre- 
parations, however, did not secure a more fortunate 
result. Losses at sea were succeeded by more seri- 
ous disasters on shore ; and Gelo, the sovereign of 
the island, adding stratagem to force, overcame the 
Carthaginian commander, and dispersed his mighty 
host. But fifty years had not passed when a simi- 
lar expedition was fitted out under Hamilco, who, 
though his operations in the field of battle were at- 
tended with greater prosperity, did not in the end 
accomplish more for the commonwealth whose sword 
he drew. Dionysius, who was obliged to surrender 
his capital to the invaders, soon saw his cause aveng- 



xxvih. xxix. The details given by the prophet in the 2Jth chapter 
throw more light on the trade of Tyre than can now be obtained trom 
any other author. Sallust ( Jugurth. c. 17) writes as follows : — tt Sed 
qui mortales initio Africara habuerint, quique postea accesserint, 
ant quomodo inter se permixti sint, tamen uti ex libris Punicis, qui 
Regis Hiempsalis dicebantur interpretatum nobis est ; utique rem 
sese habere cultores ejus terras putant, quam paucissimis dicam." 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



37 



ed by the ravages of a pestilence, which cut off their 
general, with a large proportion of his followers. 

These reverses did not dishearten the rulers of 
Carthage, who, in the mean while, were gradually 
extending their influence along the shores of Africa, 
and on the opposite coast of Spain. Their com- 
merce, too, had already become so flourishing as to 
afford the means of enlisting, not only the warlike 
tribes of their own deserts, but also Spaniards, 
Gauls, Ligurians, Sardinians, and Corsicans. With 
these forces, they in process of time found them- 
selves masters of most of the Mediterranean islands, 
and at length attracted the notice of the Romans, 
whose dominion began to be felt at the extreme 
parts of Italy. If we yield to the authority of 
Polybius, we must admit that the consular govern- 
ment, a hundred years earlier, had solicited the 
friendship of the Carthaginians ; but, whatever 
may be thought of his statement, it seems perfectly 
clear that, about three centuries and a half before 
the reign of Augustus, a treaty was formed between 
the two republics. 

This was, indeed, the age of freedom and vigour 
to both, though it cannot be averred that the gene- 
rosity of either kept pace with their advancement 
in national strength and public liberty. It has been 
justly remarked, that those communities which are 
the most free are also the most subject to violent 
passions and hasty resolves ; and we find, accord- 
ingly, that the Carthaginians were not slow to em- 
ploy their arms wherever they imagined they had 
an injury to punish or an advantage to gain. For 
example, they had already enslaved the people of 
Boetica, a Spanish province, whose privileges were 



38 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



not saved by their courage ; and they had formed 
an alliance with Xerxes,, and lost a battle against 
Gelo, the same day that the Lacedaemonians fell 
at Thermopylae. They had tried the fortune of 
war, too, with Agathocles in Africa, and Pyrrhus 
in Sicily, before they came to blows with their 
more formidable antagonists on the banks of the 
Tiber. 

No other event of great importance occurred prior 
to the first Punic war, if we except the attempt 
made to relieve Tyre when about to be finally 
overthrown by Alexander the Macedonian. That 
ambitious prince, irritated by the interference of 
a maritime power whose territory he had not yet 
menaced, resolved to inflict on them a signal chas- 
tisement ; but his thoughts being diverted to other 
objects, he allowed them to enjoy an exemption 
from the fate which he had prepared for their kins- 
men in the East. It was reserved for the Romans 
to impose a check upon the growing influence and 
prosperity of these Tyrian colonists. 

The ostensible cause of quarrel was an armed 
interposition on the part of the Carthaginians, in 
behalf of Hiero, king of Syracuse, against the Ma- 
mertines, who were allies of Rome. It belongs not 
to our undertaking to describe the battles by sea 
and land, the sieges and negotiations, which filled 
up the long space of twenty-four years. Suffice it 
to mention, that Regulus, who commanded the Ro- 
mans, having reduced Tunis, appeared before the 
gates of the capital, and summoned it to surrender. 
The citizens, alarmed at the rapid progress of the 
enemy, solicited peace on equitable terms ; but the 
victor, eager to accomplish the entire conquest of 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



39 



their country,, insisted on such conditions as deter- 
mined them to continue the war. At this crisis of 
their affairs, relief was brought to them by a Lace- 
daemonian captain, named Xantippus, who engaged 
the conquerors under the walls of Tunis, destroyed 
their legion s, and took the proconsul prisoner. Regu- 
lus was conducted as a captive into the city which 
he had hoped to enter in triumph, and is said to have 
been exposed to much indignity as well as to great 
bodily suffering. But no degree of torture or re- 
proach could overcome his patriotism ; for, upon 
consenting to accompany the Carthaginian ambas- 
sadors to Rome, he exhorted the senate to refuse 
peace,, and even to prosecute hostilities with in- 
creased vigour. His counsel was adopted, though 
at the expense of his life,, and finally enabled his 
countrymen to conclude a more advantageous treaty 
with their humbled foes. 

The interval of peace with her European rivals 
was not altogether a period of tranquillity to Car- 
thage. The Numidians, taking advantage of her 
weakness,, endeavoured to limit her pretensions in 
Africa, and to recover the independence which they 
had gradually forfeited during the growing ascend- 
ency of her power. She soon found it necessary, 
moreover, to renew the struggle in Sicily, and to 
engage in a war with the sovereign of that island., 
which, Livy informs us, lasted five years. The 
Romans, who had long relinquished the moderation 
which guided their proceedings in the infancy of 
their commonwealth, perceived that an opportunity 
was thereby presented to them for obtaining posses- 
sion of Sardinia, — an acquisition which appeared 
in their eyes so much the more valuable, that the 



40 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



people with whom they now found themselves 
doomed to contend for empire still retained several 
important settlements in the adjoining seas. Under 
some frivolous pretext, accordingly, they invaded 
the Carthaginian colony, and could boast that they 
wrested it from its legitimate owners during the 
subsistence of a regular treaty. The injured party, 
however, could not, at that moment, have recourse 
to the usual means of redress. They even conde- 
scended to purchase the forbearance of their insolent 
neighbours, and to remit money to Rome in name 
of tribute or compensation. But, pursuing a po- 
licy which sometimes confounded the less subtile ge- 
nius of their opponents, they sought new sources of 
wealth in Spain, the mines of which filled their trea- 
sury with the precious metals, and enabled them to 
call into the field very numerous armies, and cover 
the sea with their fleets. Amilcar was intrusted 
with this important enterprise, which was afterwards 
so ably conducted by his renowned son Hannibal ; 
who, by taking Saguntum, gave occasion to the se- 
cond Punic war. 

This celebrated leader has been esteemed by many 
able judges the greatest general of antiquity ; and, 
assuredly, if he does not win more affection than 
any other, he excites higher admiration. He pos- 
sessed neither the heroism of Alexander nor the 
universal genius of Ceesar ; but, as a military man, 
he surpassed them both. In ordinary cases, it is 
the love of country or of glory which conducts com- 
manders to great achievements : Hannibal alone 
was stimulated by hatred and the desire of revenge. 
Inflamed with this acrimonious spirit, he set out 
from the extremity of Spain with an army com- 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



41 



posed of a great variety of nations ; passed the Py- 
renees ; marched through Gaul ; and arrived at the 
foot of the Alps. These trackless mountains, de- 
fended by fierce barbarians, were in vain opposed 
to his progress. He crossed their icy summits and 
perilous ravines, presented himself in Italy as if he 
had descended from the clouds, and annihilated the 
first consular army on the banks of the Ticinus. 
Following up his victory, he gained another triumph 
at Trebia, a third at Thrasymene, and in the fourth, 
which he accomplished at Cannse, he threatened the 
existence of Rome itself. During sixteen years he 
prosecuted the war, unaided, in the heart of the 
enemy's country, driving the greatest generals from 
the field, and inspiring the legions with a degree of 
fear or caution which they had not known since the 
invasion of Pyrrhus. 

To withdraw this conqueror from the Roman 
provinces, it was resolved to send an army into 
Africa. Scipio, whose reputation for urbanity, mo- 
deration, and self-restraint, has reached our own 
times, was appointed to the command of the expe- 
dition, with the view of realizing a plan which had 
originated with himself as the most likely means 
for subduing Hannibal. The landing was eifected 
without any loss ; for consternation had pervaded 
all the coast, and covered the roads with fugitives, 
who fled from the towns without knowing where to 
seek an asylum. The same alarm had extended to 
Carthage itself; the citizens ran to arms ; the gates 
were shut ; and the usual preparations were made to 
repel an assault or to withstand a siege. But Scipio 
was not yet in a condition to attack the capital. 
Having sent his fleet towards Utica, he himself 



42 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



proceeded by land to the same point, where he was 
joined by Masinissa, the king of Numidia, with a 
large body of cavalry. This chief, formerly the ally 
of the Carthaginians, had made war against the 
Romans in Spain ; and having, by a succession of 
singular events, repeatedly lost and recovered his 
dominions, he had once more fallen a victim to 
certain intrigues, and been deprived of his crown. 
Syphax, prince of the Getulians, who had married 
Sophonisba, the daughter of Asdrubal, was put in 
possession of his lands, — an injustice which alien- 
ated him so much from the ruling government, that 
he declared himself ready to co-operate with the 
invaders against those tyrants of Africa.* 

After some battles which terminated in his fa- 
vour, Scipio invested Utica with the resolution to 
take it ; though Asdrubal and Syphax were en- 
camped in the vicinity. As the tents of the latter 
were formed of mats and reeds, after the Numidian 
manner, the Romans set them on fire, and thereby 
destroyed the lives of 40,000 men. But the Car- 
thaginians, so far from yielding to misfortune, saw 
in this event only a more urgent reason for increas- 
ing their levies and encouraging the fidelity of their 
confederates ; though they had the mortification to 
discover, on most occasions, that their raw troops, 
and the undisciplined valour of the Getulians, could 
not maintain their ground against the steady cou- 
rage of the legions. Syphax, being united to a 
daughter of Carthage, would not desert the cause 
of that republic, convinced as he was, that its fall 
w r ould crush all his hopes, and perhaps bury his 
sovereignty in its ruins ; and accordingly, though 
* Livius, lib. xxi. c. 1-54. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



43 



Scipio had repeatedly dispersed the armies opposed 
to him., and even made himself master of Tunis, 
the barbarian prince resolved once more to face the 
victors, and, if possible, save the capital from de- 
struction. He entered into the combat with a bra- 
very worthy of a better fate ; and, when deserted 
by his soldiers in the heat of the battle, he rushed 
alone upon the Roman squadrons, hoping that his 
men, ashamed of having abandoned their king, 
would return and die with him. But in this ex- 
pectation he was grievously disappointed ; the cow- 
ards continued their flight ; and, his horse being 
killed, he fell alive into the hands of his mortal 
enemy Masinissa.* 

A tale of romance, affectingly told by Livy, occu- 
pies the short period which precedes the return of 
Hannibal to defend his native country. Sopho- 
nisba, whom the fortune of war soon afterwards 
threw into the same hands with her husband, was 
induced or compelled to become the wife of Masi- 
nissa ; who, upon discovering that the virtuous and 
exemplary Scipio was displeased with this union, 
from the fear that her influence would draw him 
to the side of the enemy, sent her a cup of poison, 
in order that she might free herself from the appre- 
hension of a still greater disgrace, t 

Finding their affairs fast becoming desperate, the 
magistrates of Carthage sent orders to their great 
general to abandon Italy and hasten to their relief. 
Upon receiving this message he is said to have shed 
tears of rage, to have reproached the imbecility of 

* Livius, lib. xxx. c. 11. 

-|* Livius, lib. xxx. c. 12. The narrative begins at the 3d and 
continues to the end of the 12th chapter. 



44 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



his government, and to have bitterly condemned 
himself for not marching to Rome after the battle 
of Cannae. Never, it was remarked,, did a man, 
quitting the land of his birth to go into exile, expe- 
rience more profound grief than Hannibal endured 
when he left a foreign shore to return home. He 
had sailed from Africa when a boy : had been thirty- 
six years away ; and was about to find strangers 
among the nearest relatives of his family. At length 
he disembarked on the shore of his fathers, at the 
head of the veterans who had followed him in 
Spain, Gaul, and Italy ; who could show more in- 
signia of honour, taken from praetors, generals, and 
consuls, than w r ere carried before all the dignitaries 
of Rome : and in the city, to the protection of which 
he was now advancing, the temples, crowded with 
the spoils of her mighty enemy, were perhaps the 
only places he could recognise amidst the scenes of 
his youth." 

But the fortune of Hannibal did not accompany 
him into Africa. The battle of Zama decided the 
fate of Carthage and of the most renowned of her 
sons ; putting an end, at the same time, to the 
second Punic war. The vanquished sued for peace 
and obtained it, but on such terrris as announced 
their approaching humiliation ; while their illus- 
trious general, not venturing to rely on the genero- 
sity of an irritated and fickle populace, retired to 
Asia Minor, where he spent the remainder of his 
days in vain attempts to form a coalition against 
the Romans. Nor did he find the hatred of that 
people more relenting than his own. On the con- 

* Chateaubriand's Travels in Greece, Palestine, Egypt, and Bar- 
bary, vol. ii. p. 259. Second Edition. London, 1812. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



45 



trary, the emissaries of the senate pursued him from 
one court to another, till he was on the point of 
being delivered up into their hands, when, accord- 
ing to the custom of his age and nation, he brought 
his life to a close by swallowing poison. 

The events now recorded took place about 200 
years before our era, according to the more common 
calculation. Half a century passed without any open 
rupture between the two republics ; and the wiser 
statesmen at Rome had begun to perceive an ad- 
vantage in having their power balanced by an active 
rival, whose ambition would never permit the vigi- 
lance of their government to sleep, nor their citizens 
to sink into a supine security, the parent of luxury 
and weakness. But the elder Cato, with a repub- 
lican severity which made little allowance for the 
rights of other states, represented the destruction of 
Carthage as essential to the permanence and great- 
ness of the Roman power ; and his inveterate hatred 
at length proved triumphant. War was accordingly 
declared, on grounds which had in them more of 
personal enmity than of public wisdom ; and the 
last struggle with the people of Dido, the noblest 
colony of Tyre, was forthwith begun. 

The success which attended the soldiers of Italy 
on this occasion indicated not so much their own 
advancement in the military art as the failure of 
energy and national strength on the side of their 
opponents. The Carthaginians were divided by 
factions and paralysed by domestic broils ; their 
allies became faithless, their fleets were not pro- 
perly equipped, and their land-forces reposed no 
confidence in their leaders : nor was it until they 
discovered that the most consummate perfidy was 



46 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



practised against them, that they would consent to 
act with unanimity for the preservation of their 
honour, property, and life. The consuls Marcius 
and Manilius, who appeared under their walls, were 
vigorously repulsed ; and the genius of Hannibal 
seemed to revive in the besieged city. The women 
are described as having cut off their hair and twisted 
it into ropes for the military engines, — a degree of 
zeal which was rewarded with the postponement 
of their overthrow for several months. Emilianus 
Scipio, the second African us, served at that time in 
the Roman army as a tribune ; and, as Masinissa 
was still alive, he is feigned by Cicero to have 
invited the youthful hero to his court, when that 
scene is supposed to have occurred which is so beau- 
tifully unfolded by the great orator in his " Scipio's 
Dream." 

At a somewhat later period, this rising soldier, 
appointed to the consulship through the favour of 
the people, received orders to continue the siege of 
Carthage. He began by surprising the lower town, 
usually called Magara, and then attempted to block 
up the outer port by means of a mole; but the 
garrison opened another entrance to the harbour, 
and appeared at sea, to the great amazement of the 
enemy. It is asserted that, had not confusion per- 
vaded the councils of the city, they might, on this 
occasion, have burnt the Roman fleet, and reduced 
the assailants to the greatest distress. 

Asdrubal, who conducted the defence, at the head 
of 30,000 mercenaries, was a man of a severe tem- 
per, and treated the citizens with unnecessary harsh- 
ness. Submitting, however, to an authority which 
it would have been hazardous to oppose, they con- 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



47 



tinued their efforts throughout the winter, and pre- 
pared for the more formidable attack that awaited 
them in the spring. The enemy, as it was appre- 
hended, renewed his operations against the harbour, 
being aware that, as long as the Carthaginians could 
find access to the ocean, his utmost endeavours would 
be defeated. Having made himself master of the 
inner port, he pushed forward into the great square, 
and thence to the citadel, into which a large body 
of the troops had retreated. Resistance, though now 
unavailing, was continued seven days, when terms 
were solicited from the conqueror, who freely al- 
lowed all to depart, except the deserters who had 
passed from his standard to that of the enemy. 
These last, amounting to 900, shut themselves up 
in the temple of Esculapius ; and, choosing to perish 
by their own hands rather than submit to the pu- 
nishment of traitors, they set fire to the building, 
and died amidst the flames. 

Scipio is reported to have shed tears for the fate 
of the city which he himself had destroyed, and 
upon the ruin of which he knew that his glory as 
a warrior was to be founded. Looking upon a 
capital, once so flourishing, sacked and burnt by 
furious soldiers, he reflected on the revolutions of 
empires, and recited some verses from Homer in 
allusion to the future destinies of Rome, to which 
they were so easily adapted : — 

" Yet come it will, the day decreed by fates : 
(How my heart trembles while my tongue relates !) 
The day when thou, imperial Tro}*, must bend, 
And see thy warriors fall, thy glories end." * 

* Iliad, lib. vi. v. 447. 

Ey (aiv yuQ rohi btha. jcocroc (pgivce, zoci xa.ra, &u(/,ov 
'"E(T<nroci yi/ac&g, uV civ nor oXooXri IXios lpvi 9 



48 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



Corinth was demolished in the same year as Car- 
thage ; and we are told that a youth of the former 
city repeated a similar passage from the Greek poet 
when he beheld his native town reduced to ashes, — 
a fine tribute to the genius of the immortal bard, 
whose sentiments were thus engrafted upon the seri- 
ous thoughts of all contemplative spirits throughout 
the civilized world. 

It would appear that the greater number of the 
Carthaginians who survived the fall of their metro- 
polis repaired to Tunis, situated at the distance of 
about twelve miles, and added at once to its popu- 
lation and its commerce. Some, indeed, are said to 
have withdrawn into Egypt, and even into the 
nearest of the Asiatic provinces ; while others, in- 
corporating with the mixed race of Liby-Phcenici- 
ans, fell back into the countries which acknowledged 
the sway of the Xumidian princes. In this man- 
ner the whole of maritime Barbary, from Alexan- 
dria to Algiers, became subject to the Romans ; for 
the Cyrenaica, as belonging to the kingdom of the 
Ptolemies, had previously fallen into their hands. 
The territory of Masinissa was relinquished to his 
sons, who seem to have exercised a joint sovereignty, 
under the protection of their august allies, until, 
upon the death of two of his brothers, the sceptre 
was assumed by Micipsa as his undivided right. 
In these circumstances, and as the senate abstained 
from every attempt to extend their conquests in 
Africa, peace continued many years uninterrupted 
under the proconsular government, to wdiich the 
states of Carthage were now committed. 

The tranquillity of the province was first dis- 
turbed by the ambition of Jugurtha, a nephew of 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



49 



the Numidian king, being a natural son of Manas- 
tabal, one of the children of the celebrated Ma- 
sinissa. Micipsa, whose accession has just been 
described, had two sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal, 
who being still very young when he felt himself 
approaching his end, he intrusted the care of their 
education and interests to their cousin, now arrived 
at maturer years. The youths, as they approached 
manhood, bore with impatience the ascendency to 
which their relative had attained, and did not take 
any care to conceal their contempt for his origin, or 
their neglect of his counsels. Yielding to the strong 
feeling of resentment which had been thus unwisely 
excited, Jugurtha had recourse to arms ; and as he 
possessed military talents far superior to those of 
the legitimate princes, his success in the field of 
battle soon compelled them to make known their 
cause at Rome, and entreat the aid or interposition 
of the senate.* 

The administration of the two brothers appears 
to have experienced opposition from other quarters, 
before they came to blows with the son of Manas- 
tab al. A sheik or petty chief in Numidia, whose 
name was Jarbas, had risen in actual rebellion, 
and was not completely subdued until Pompey led 
against him a detachment of regular troops. Ano- 
ther pretender to the throne appeared in the person 
of Masintha, who could boast of a royal extraction, 
and, which was of much more value in his circum- 
stances, the powerful patronage of Julius Csesar. 
This claimant presented himself before the Ro- 
man senate, where he was met by Juba, the son 
of Hiempsal, in whose favour a decision was pro- 

* Sallusti Jugurtha, cap. xiii. 

C 



50 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



nounced by the voice of the commonwealth. But 
Jugurtha, who was in arms against the same mo- 
narch, was better acquainted than Masintha with 
the means of influencing the judgment of that su- 
preme council which now directed the affairs of 
Europe, Asia Minor, and a large portion of Africa. 
He had discovered, that neither the general in the 
camp nor the senator in the hall of justice was 
inaccessible to a bribe; and, as he had an ample 
treasury, he never found himself destitute of friends 
even among the stern advocates of republican purity. 
a O venal city I" he exclaimed, as he turned his 
back upon the towers of Romulus, " O city, ready 
for sale and destruction, shouldest thou meet a pur- 
chaser \"* 

Jugurtha, pursuing the wily system which he 
had thought proper to adopt, found a complete re- 
compense in a victory gained over a consular army, 
whom he compelled to pass under the yoke within 
sight of the ruins of Carthage ; thereby gratifying 
the revenge of his country, and inflicting upon his 
proud conquerors an indelible disgrace. The de- 
feated general bound himself to evacuate Xumidia, 
with his whole forces, within ten days.t 

Rage and shame filled the breasts of the senators 
when they heard of this miserable catastrophe. Me- 
tellus, a brave soldier, who by his triumphs over 
this rebellious prince earned the distinction of Nu- 
midiciis, was sent into Africa to recover the honour 

* " Urbem venalem et mature perituram, si emptorem inyenerit !" 
— Sallusti Jugurtha, cap. xxxy. 

■f The vanquished chief was Aulus Albums, the brother of the 
consul, who had been left in the temporary command of the army. 

Sail. Jugurth. c. xxviii, " Quse, quanquam gravia et flagitii 

plena erant ; tamen quia mortis metu mutabant, secuti Regi libue- 
rat, pax convenit." 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



51 



of Rome, and to secure the sovereignty for the de- 
scendants of Masinissa. The celebrated Marius, 
about two years afterwards, routed him completely 
in a sanguinary engagement ; and, finally, through 
the treachery of Bocchus, the father-in-law of the 
usurper, obtained possession of his person, and con- 
demned him to make part of the spectacle in his 
triumph. It is said that Jugurtha, amidst the pomp 
of his victor's entry into the capital, lost his reason, or 
at least his presence of mind ; that the lictors strip- 
ped him ; took the jewels from his ears ; and threw 
him into a dungeon, where he justified to the last 
moment of his life all that he had averred concern- 
ing the rapacity of the Romans.* 

After these events, the crown of Numidia was 
given to Juba, the son of Hiempsal ; the enjoyment 
of which was cut short by the troubles which dis- 
tracted Rome itself, and put a period to the repub- 
lican government. There is, indeed, much apparent 
truth in the observation, that Carthage was no 
sooner levelled with the ground than an avenging 
deity seemed to rise from its ruins. The Roman 
manners became depraved ; the commonwealth be- 
gan to be distracted by civil wars ; and these evils 
had their commencement upon the African shores. 
Scipio himself, the destroyer of that capital, died by 
the hands of his relations ; the children of Masinissa, 
who contributed to the success of the invaders, 
slaughtered one another in the very scene of their 

* Plutarch, in his Life of Marius, says that Jugurtha, as he walked 
in the procession, ran distracted. Eutropius (lib. iv. c. 28) remarks, 
that he was led before the chariot of Marius, bound with chains, 
and accompanied by his two sons. " Ante currum," &c. 

" Nosse cupis vulgo non cognita fata Jugurthae 

Ut Plutarchus ait, carcere clausus obit." 



52 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



triumphs; and the possessions of Syphax enabled 
Jugurtha to seduce and vanquish the countrymen 
of Regulus. Again, the victory obtained over this 
politic usurper occasioned that jealousy between Ma- 
rius and Sylla which soon plunged all Rome into 
mourning. Vanquished by his rival, the former of 
these commanders sought an asylum amid the tombs 
of Hanno and Hamilcar ; and when a slave of Sex- 
tilius, the prefect of Africa, carried an order to the 
fugitive desiring him to quit the dilapidated walls 
which served him for a retreat, ffC Go tell thy mas- 
ter," replied the fallen consul, ec that thou hast seen 
Marius seated upon the ruins of Carthage/' 

The conflict between Pompey and Caesar was at 
length extended to the fields and deserts of Barbary. 
Juba, whose claims had been opposed in the senate 
by the latter of these warriors, took part with his 
antagonist, and joined himself to the remains of the 
fine army which had been broken at Pharsalia. The 
conqueror himself soon afterwards appeared in Af- 
rica, where his talents and fortune produced their 
wonted effects ; subduing the more resolute of his 
enemies, and gaining the favour of those who were 
influenced by personal motives rather than by zeal 
for the cause in which they had engaged. Scipio 
Metellus, the father-in-law of Pompey, was defeated 
and put to death. The Numidian king, in order to 
escape from falling into the hands of the victor, in- 
duced his own friend, Petreius, to run him through 
the body. Cato slew himself at Utica ; and Sylla, 
who was taken by one of Caesar's lieutenants, was 
in a very summary manner deprived of life. Boc- 
chus and Bogud, kings of Mauritania, who had al- 
ternately fought under the banners of the two great 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



53 



rivals, lost, in the end, both their lives and their 
dominions ; and hence, at the period when Augus- 
tus ascended the imperial throne, the whole of Bar- 
bary belonged to the Romans, or at least acknow- 
ledged them as the supreme rulers.* 

But although .Northern Africa was thus reduced 
into the form of a province, the new emperor was 
too well acquainted with the manners of the people, 
and with the vast difference which still subsisted 
between their consuetudinal laws and the statutes 
of a civilized nation, to place the Numidian states 
under the superintendence of a Roman deputy. He 
therefore resolved to confer the honour of sovereignty 
upon young Juba, the son of the late king, who, 
being a mere infant at the death of his father, was 
educated in Italy and trained in all the accomplish- 
ments which became his rank. As his dispositions 
were not inferior to his genius, which was of the 
highest order, he acquired the esteem of Augustus, 
who carried him as a companion in all his expedi- 
tions ; and at the end of the civil war, when the 
family of Cleopatra were received under his protec- 
tion, he married his royal captive to a daughter of 
the Egyptian queen, giving her as a dowry the 
crowns of Mauritania and Numidia. 

This descendant of Micipsa is represented by his- 
torians as a very extraordinary person, and his 
works have been highly celebrated by learned men. 
According to Pliny, who frequently quotes his 
writings, he was a curious and indefatigable col- 
lector of valuable records, — extracting them from 
the Greek, Latin, Punic, and African chronicles, 
and connecting them in a continuous narrative with 

* A. Hirt. Pans, de Bello Africano, cap. 73-75. 



54 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



the greatest accuracy. He was, says the same his- 
torian, more distinguished for his erudition than by 
his kingly power.* 

This amiable prince was succeeded by his son 
Ptolemy, who owed his name to his mother's family > 
and who inherited the least auspicious part of their 
fortunes. A revolt of his subjects, headed by a 
brave though unprincipled leader, who is known to 
history under the appellation of Tacfarinas, not 
only disturbed his government several years, but 
also employed the arms of Rome in a very doubtful 
war. Tacitus remarks that many generals contented 
themselves with triumphal honours, without exert- 
ing their strength to subdue the enemy. At Rome 
had been erected no fewer than three statues crowned 
with laurel, and yet Africa was still ravaged by the 
insurgents, who, disgusted with the conduct of some 
of Ptolemy's officers, preferred an honourable war 
to an inglorious vassalage. Their place of retreat 
was the territory of Garamantis, whose prince 
shared in the spoil, though without sending his 
troops into the field. Dolabella, the proconsul, 
whose force had been unduly diminished by the 
recall of the ninth legion, found it necessary to at- 
tack his enemy under the cloud of night. Hearing 
that the Numidians had taken possession of a wood 
as a safe place of encampment, he made a forced 
march with his cavalry and light-armed foot, and, 
falling upon them while still asleep and their horses 
at pasture, he gained an easy and a most complete 
victory. The Romans, irritated by the fatiguing 
service in which they had been so long employed, 
and stung by the remembrance of several discom- 

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. v. c. 1. Tacit. Annal. lib. iv. c. 13. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



55 



fitures, failed not to take ample revenge on their 
unresisting foes. The main object of their desire, 
however, was the life or captivity of Tacfarinas ; 
being satisfied that as long as he should survive, the 
disaffected Africans would never be without a rally- 
ing point, a standard to follow, and a general to 
lead. But this brave rebel had determined that 
the soldiers of Augustus should not exult over him 
as a prisoner. Perceiving that all his guards were 
cut in pieces, that his son was already taken, and 
his adversaries pouring in thickly upon him, he 
sprang undauntedly forward into the midst of his 
assailants, and sold his life at a dear price.* 

Ptolemy did not long enjoy the peace which 
was purchased at the expense of so much blood ; 
for, being invited to Rome by the Emperor Caligula, 
he was barbarously murdered at the command of 
that tyrant, who either coveted his riches or envied 
his popularity. He was the last king of Africa for 
many ages ; his dominions, at his death, being in- 
corporated with the contiguous provinces, and go- 
verned by a praetor or proconsul. Mauritania, on 
this occasion, was divided into two sections, — a mea- 
sure which was not accomplished without some dis- 
turbance and much bloodshed ; for iEdemon, one of 
the freedmen of the late sovereign, took up arms to 
revenge his death. This war, which was prosecuted 
with various success, continued some years during 
the reign of Claudius, and, indeed, appears not to 
have reached its termination till near the middle of 
the first century ; various leaders having sprung up 
to vindicate the independence of Western Africa, 



* Annal. lib. iv. c. 15. 



56 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 



which, before these troubles, had not been approach- 
ed by a Roman army.* 

Having brought down the narrative of events, so 
far as they can be ascertained from authentic history, 
to the memorable epoch when the Roman empire 
gave laws to the greater part of the civilized world, 
and changed the form of supreme power in most of 
the ancient nations whose shores were washed by 
the Mediterranean, it may be convenient to pause 
until we shall have given a short sketch of the con- 
stitution and commerce of the Barbary States at the 
remote era to which our attention is now directed. 



* Dion Cassius, lib. 59. Seneca, de tranquil. Vitae. Plin. lib. 
v. c. 1, 2. Sueton. in vita Calig. sect. 26. 



CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE, &c. 57 



CHAPTER II. 

Constitution, Commerce, and Navigation of the Phoeni- 
cian Colonies on the Coast of Barbary. 

Independence of the federated Towns, Utica, Leptis, &c — Predo- 
minance of Carthage — Constancy of her Government — Its Pro- 
gress described— Originally a Monarchy, but gradually became 
aristocratical— House of Mago — Rights of the People exercised 
in public Assemblies— And in the Election of Magistrates— De- 
cided in all Questions in which the Kings and Senate could not 
agree — Constitution and Power of the Senate — The select Coun- 
cil — The Kings or Suffetes — Distinction between the King and 
a General— Some Resemblance to Roman Consuls and Hebrew 
Judges — Wise Administration of Justice — No judicial Assem- 
blies of the People — Basis of Power occupied by the Senate — 
Trade and Commerce of Carthage — Inherited from the Phoeni- 
cians — Her Position favourable — Engrossed the Trade of Africa 
and Southern Europe — Opposed by the Greeks at Marseilles — 
Her Intercourse with Sicily, Sardinia, Malta, and the Balearic 
Isles— The Mines of Spain attract her Notice — Carthaginian 
Dealers penetrate into Gaul — Colonies in the Atlantic— The 
western Coasts of Spain — Voyages to Britain and the Tin Islands 
— Poem of Festus Avienus— Trade in Amber — Question whe- 
ther the Carthaginians ever entered the Baltic — Voyage of 
Hanno towards the South— Colonies planted on the western 
Coast of Africa — The Towns built in that Quarter — The Car- 
thaginians discovered Madeira — The Date at which the Expe- 
ditions of Hanno and Hamilco took Place— Proofs that Carthage 
must have attained great Power and Civilisation — Her Libraries 
— Agriculture — Splendid Villas — Rich Meadows and Gardens — 
Her extensive Land trade across the Desert — Her warlike Pro- 
pensities — Causes of her Decline and Fail. 

Of the trading towns or smaller states which owned 
a subordination to Carthage, some were colonies 
which had sprung immediately from herself, and 
others were settlements founded by their common 



58 CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION 



parent, the wealthy city of Tyre. Sallust, who 
had good means of information on this subject, in- 
forms his readers, that not only Utica and Leptis, 
but also Adrumetum, Hippo, and other large towns 
on the coast, were of Phoenician origin.* These 
establishments are also understood to have been free 
and independent from the beginning; every one, 
with a moderate territory annexed to it, forming 
a little republic. Hence, the Carthaginians, even 
when they had attained their greatest degree of 
power, did not exercise an absolute government over 
these colonial sovereignties ; but rather, on all 
proper occasions, were ready to acknowledge their 
constitutional freedom, and likewise their right of 
entering into separate alliances with foreign nations. 
This opinion is supported by the remarkable fact, 
mentioned by Polybius, that, in a commercial treaty 
between them and the Romans, made in the year 
348 before Christ, it is said, " upon these conditions 
shall be peace between Rome and her allies, and 
between Carthage, Utica, and their allies." Here, 
it is obvious, Utica is recognised as on a footing 
of equality with the larger state, and as having 
the privilege of contracting, in regard to trade, a 
friendly intercourse with the Roman commonwealth, 
then fast approaching to her political supremacy. 

It cannot be concealed, at the same time, that 
the greater riches and population of the colony 
founded by Dido, secured for it a predominating 
influence over the others, which appear to have 

* Sallust. Jugurth. c. 19. — " Postea Phoenices, alii multitudinis 
domi minuendas gratia, pars imperii cupidine, solicitata plebe et 
aliis novarum reruni avidis, Hipponem, Hadrumetum, Leptim ali- 
asqne urbes in ora maritima condidere." — Polyb. lib. i. c. J. Hee- 
ren, vol. i. p. 43. 



OF THE ANCIENT BARBAE. Y STATES. 59 

conceded, without reluctance,, that pre-eminence in 
public affairs which belonged to the mother-cities 
of Greece. Aristotle, who was well acquainted 
with the different constitutions which prevailed in 
his age, mentions, as a peculiar circumstance in the 
Carthaginian government, that, down to his own 
days, it had undergone no very great change, either 
from the impatience of its citizens or the usurpation 
of tyrants, — a proof that its principles were at once 
well balanced and judiciously administered. In 
common with Athens, Rome, Sparta, and the other 
celebrated democracies of ancient times, this Phoeni- 
cian community, as we have just observed, pre- 
sented the general character of having a single cit}^ 
for its head; and hence, however great the do- 
minions of the metropolis might become, the govern- 
ment must still have remained municipal. It is 
nevertheless true, that the constitution of Carthage 
was not constructed upon any particular model, 
but arose, like the frame of society every where 
else, out of the circumstances in which she found 
herself placed. Originating in a monarchy, or 
rather, perhaps, in that patriarchal rule of which 
the eastern nations every where exhibit the pattern, 
it soon passed into a republic, where certain powers 
were extended to all orders of the state. Without 
trusting implicitly to the historical authorities usual- 
ly quoted in support of these views, we might in- 
deed presume, that this people, after the manner 
of all ancient colonies, adopted the political usages 
of their ancestors at Tyre, so far as these could be 
rendered applicable to the condition of things in 
which their civic authorities were first called to act.* 



* Arist. Politic, lib. v. c. 12. 



60 CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION 



But although the Carthaginians are said to have 
preferred a commonwealth to the more despotic 
form which they had brought from Asia, it is gene- 
rally understood that the actual administration of 
affairs was lodged in the hands of a few powerful 
families who constituted the aristocracy of wealth. 
As the magisterial office conferred honour, and even 
a certain rank, without any revenue, it must ne- 
cessarily have been bestowed on persons distin- 
guished by some measure of opulence ; whence, we 
cannot be surprised to learn that, though there was 
no hereditary claim, riches supplied a qualification 
w r hich, in most cases, was held equally valid. Aris- 
totle has accordingly remarked, that the governors 
of the city were chosen on account of their property, 
their worth, and their popular virtues. In ordinary 
times, such considerations would doubtless have 
their full weight ; but it is manifest that, in a nation 
devoted to conquest, another and a more prevailing 
source of influence would soon be opened up, in the 
superior military talents of an individual or a family. 
The Greek and Roman w T riters, owing to the scan- 
ty remains of Carthaginian history which fell into 
their hands, could not determine with precision the 
rise of those great names which figure in the more 
important transactions of the republic, her w r ars and 
treaties, and occasionally created so much jealousy 
in the minds of the people. But the house of Mago, 
the first conquerors of Sicily, affords a striking in- 
stance of the ascendency now alluded to ; having, 
during the lapse of four generations, supplied com- 
manders to their countrymen.* 

It is manifest, therefore, that the royal functions 

* Arist. Polit. lib. v. c 7. 



OF THE ANCIENT BARBARY STATES. 



61 



being superseded, the government of the ancient 
Barbary States, three or four centuries before the 
Christian era, had become a mixture of aristocracy 
with an infusion of democratical elements. We find, 
accordingly, that Polybius and Aristotle, the most 
competent authorities on this subject, place the con- 
stitution of Carthage among those mixed forms where 
power is divided between the people, properly so 
called, and the patrician order, which has gradually 
risen from them. The one compares it to the admi- 
nistration of Sparta, before anarchy or despotism 
had paralysed its rulers ; and the other likens it to 
that of Rome, when, as yet, no demagogue had in- 
sulted the majesty of the senate.* 

The rights enjoyed by the people appear to have 
been chiefly displayed in their public assemblies ; 
but as to the precise extent of their privileges, and 
the manner in which they were exercised, history 
does not convey any satisfactory information. It is 
generally admitted, however, that the popular part 
of the government was invested with a certain influ- 
ence in the election of the chief magistrates or kings, — 
aright which, while it imposed on the leading families 
a feeling of dependence, raised the great body of the 
commons to a suitable degree of political elevation. 
But we learn from Aristotle, that the distinction 
now mentioned was often prostituted to the lowest 
purposes ; that the electors, in most cases, were ac- 
tuated by considerations of gain rather than of na- 
tional honour or advantage ; and that, in his time, 
the highest offices in Carthage were obtained by 
bribery. We are informed by the same author, that 
there was placed in the hands of the people the 

* Aristotle ; as just quoted. Polyb. lib. vi. c. 2. 



62 CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION 

prerogative of deciding in all questions concerning 
which the king and the senate could not agree ; and, 
on this principle, it was not uncommon to find them 
deliberating on matters of the deepest importance, 
such as declarations of war and treaties of peace. 

The senate, it is however acknowledged, possessed 
a paramount authority in all state affairs ; and in 
fact, previous to the wars with Rome, exercised 
nearly the whole power of the commonwealth. But 
it is not certainly known whether that assembly was 
permanent, or consisted of a body of citizens which 
was from time to time renewed, nor even what was 
the exact number of its constituent members. The 
ascendency which it had acquired strengthens the 
probability that it was not entirely dependent on 
the suffrages of the people ; and there is equal rea- 
son to conclude that, like the Roman senate, it 
amounted to several hundreds, whose rank or ser- 
vices entitled them to a voice in its decisions. This 
inference derives confirmation from the fact, that 
out of it was chosen a more Select Council, which, it 
is said, was held in the greatest reverence, and en- 
joyed an unquestionable control over the senate 
itself. In respect to the origin of this supreme com- 
mittee, Justin gives the following account : — <c As 
the house of Mago became dangerous to a free state, 
1 00 j udges were chosen from among the senators, who, 
upon the return of generals from war, should de- 
mand an account of the things transacted by them, 
that they, being thereby kept in awe, should so con- 
duct themselves in their military commands as to 
have regard to the laws of their country." As this 
tribunal consisted of a number so considerable, it 
may be concluded that the assembly from which it 



OF THE ANCIENT BARBARY STATES. 63 

was drawn comprehended no small proportion of the 
older and more wealthy families.* 

This council, clothed with powers at once very 
extensive and arbitrary, became, in the end, dan- 
gerous to that liberty which it was its peculiar duty 
to protect. It is manifest, however, that during the 
flourishing period of the republic it answered the 
purpose for which it was designed ; checking at once 
the power of triumphant commanders and the inso- 
lence of aspiring demagogues. At a later period, as 
has now been suggested, it degenerated into the most 
intolerable despotism ; many officers being known 
to commit suicide rather than incur the hazard of its 
tyrannical rigour. 

On the whole, it is the opinion of Heeren, that 
the duties of the Carthaginian senate, including 
both the larger and the smaller body, were of the 
same nature and extent as those of the Roman. 
There is no doubt that all business relating to fo- 
reign affairs was under their management ; the of- 
ficial reports being laid before them by the kings or 
suffetes, who presided at their meetings. They 
likewise received foreign ambassadors ; deliberated 
on all national concerns ; and decided upon the ex- 
pediency of peace and war, although, as a matter 
of form, the question was sometimes submitted to 
the people. The power of the senate, therefore, 
seems to have been unlimited, so long as its deter- 
minations agreed with those of the nominal sove- 
reigns ; and, consequently, its members held in their 
hands the greater part of the legislative authority. 
To their care, also, were confided the welfare and 



* Justin, lib. xviii. c. 3-7 ; lib. xix. c. 1. 2. 



64 CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION 

security of the city, as well as the direction of the 
public revenue.* 

But the highest office in the Carthaginian com- 
monwealth was that of the kings, as they are usually 
denominated by the Greek writers. These were a 
class of rulers who, in their rank and duties, cor- 
responded to the Consuls of Rome and to the Judges 
of the Hebrew tribes prior to the age of Samuel. 
All which is positively known respecting them is, 
that they were elected from the principal families 
of the state ; that they presided in the senate ; and 
that, in some other respects, they possessed a high 
degree of authority. It remains doubtful, however, 
whether there were two in office at the same time, or 
only one; and an equal uncertainty exists as to the 
duration of their appointment. The prevailing opi- 
nion among the best-informed authors of the present 
day is, that they continued in power during their 
whole lives. 

It would appear that a distinction was uniformly 
preserved at Carthage between the duties of the king 
or judge, and those of the general who led the nation- 
al troops into the field of battle ; though, on certain 
occasions, it should seem, the union of the civil and 
military jurisdiction was not deemed incompatible. 
It was held sufficient, as a security for public freedom, 
that the rank of sovereign did not imply the more 
dangerous authority of chief commander ; that the 
latter could not be held by the suffetes without a 
special nomination by the senate, confirmed in the as- 
sembly of the people ; and that at the close of the cam- 
paign his powers expired, and could not be revived 
without the regular forms of a new appointment. 

* Historical Researches, vol. i. chap. 3. 
2 



OF THE ANCIENT BARBARY STATES. 65 

In the administration of justice the Carthaginians 
seem to have acted more wisely than the Greeks, and 
to have employed regular magistrates for the deci- 
sion of all lawsuits. The people, accordingly, never 
assembled in a body to exercise the judicial func- 
tions, as they were wont at Rome and Athens, where 
so much injustice was perpetrated on public charac- 
ters. This arrangement must have prevented many 
evils, as popular tribunals are well known to have 
formed one of the most dangerous institutions pos- 
sessed by the free states of antiquity ; and it appears 
also to have been founded on an aristocratical prin- 
ciple quite opposed to the irresponsible judgment of 
the multitude. In these respects the usages of Car- 
thage bore a close resemblance to those of Lacedse- 
mon, though it must be acknowledged that the in- 
formation conveyed by Aristotle is so limited as not 
to afford materials for any certain or general con- 
clusion. 

The account now given, imperfect as it is, may 
nevertheless be sufficient to show the general cha- 
racter of the ancient constitution which distinguish- 
ed the Barbary States. In a commercial commu- 
nity, depending on a single town, little else could 
be expected than that the more opulent families 
would seize the government, and form an aristo- 
cracy of which the main power rested in the senate ; 
the members of which, too, would derive their chief 
dignity from the splendour of their wealth and con- 
quests, and draw their strength from the mutual 
jealousy of the popular factions, and even from the 
religion of the people. On this foundation their 
polity remained firm and unshaken during several 
centuries ; nor was it until after the first peace with 

D 



66 CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE; AND NAVIGATION 

Rome that new circumstances arose, which dissever- 
ed the bands whereby the government of Carthage 
had been so long held together. 

Proceeding now to make a few remarks on the 
commercial relations of this famous republic, we 
may observe, that trade and navigation are in all 
cases so intimately connected as to render it very 
difficult to consider them apart. As the daughter 
of Tyre, this great city was naturally led to lay the 
foundations of her power on her traffic with other 
countries. Xo nation in the ancient world is more 
celebrated than the Phoenicians as skilful crafts- 
men and adventurous sailors ; carrying their manu- 
factures, together with the commodities which they 
imported from the remote regions of the East and 
the South, to the provinces spread along the Black 
Sea and the borders of the Atlantic. Corn and 
honey, oil and balm, were brought from Judah and 
Israel ; from Damascus came the wine of Helbon 
and the fine wool for which that part of Syria was 
long famous ; the cypresses of Mount Hermon, the 
oaks of Bashan, the cedars of Lebanon, and the box- 
wood of Cyprus, were conveyed to Tyre, in exchange 
for the productions of her mechanical ingenuity. In 
Tarshish, or Spain, the Tyrians obtained silver, 
iron, tin, and lead ; from the Isles of Elisha, or the 
shores of Asia Elinor, was imported, according to 
the prophet, a species of blue and purple sailcloth, 
which proved extremely useful to their merchant- 
ships. From Egypt was conveyed cotton and linen 
goods, and perhaps those rarer articles of traffic, 
which were carried on the backs of camels from the 
interior of Africa. The eastern shores of Arabia sup- 
plied wrought iron, spices, ivory, ebony, gold, and 



OF THE ANCIENT BARBARY STATES. 67 

precious stones, — all which were brought overland 
to the coast of the Mediterranean, and exchanged 
for Phoenician manufactures or Spanish silver. 

Carthage succeeded to a large portion of the trade k 
originally possessed by the enterprising state from 
which she derived her origin. In some respects her 
position was more favourable for commerce with Afri- 
ca and Western Europe, than even that of Tyre and 
Sidon ; and there is no doubt that she availed her- 
self of her advantages,, in securing the riches of the 
Spanish peninsula, as well as those of the negro 
kingdoms situated beyond the Sahara. By means 
of caravans, her goods sought a market on the banks 
of the Upper Nile, and on either side of the Ara- 
bian Gulf; and in the Mediterranean her ships 
found an entrance into all the principal ports, from 
Cyrene to the Straits. With the view of extending 
her commerce and creating a demand for her ma- 
nufactures, she formed settlements in Sicily, Sardi- 
nia, Corsica, and the Balearic Islands. This step 
became the more necessary to her, because, though 
she kept up a correspondence with the parent-coun- 
try, as also with Greece, Egypt, and the Pentapolis, 
she appears not to have at any time enjoyed a large 
share of trade in those parts. Among these ancient 
nations, where competition already prevailed to no 
small extent, she could not fail to encounter many 
rivals ; on which account, her rulers wisely endea- 
voured to secure an exclusive intercourse with the 
less-polished tribes who occupied the western shores 
of their inland sea. Even this object was not ac- 
complished without opposition ; for a Greek colony,, 
planted at Marseilles, claimed the trade of Southern 
Gaul, while other establishments, not less jealous, 



68 CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE; AND NAVIGATION 

asserted a previous right to whatever profit might 
be derived from buying and selling among the Ita- 
lians and merchants of Sicily. 

It was, however, to the countries just named that 
her mercantile navigation was first directed. Car- 
thaginian traders settled at an early period in Sy- 
racuse, as well as in other Greek cities, whose har- 
bours were always full of their ships ; while, on the 
other hand, these rich countries found the Tyrian 
colonists the best customers for their oil and wine, 
w r hich they again disposed of at Cyrene, in ex- 
change for commodities still more highly prized. 
That an active commerce existed between Carthage 
and the other nations of Italy, — the Romans and 
Etrurians, — is rendered manifest by the numerous 
treaties, of which some record still remains. The 
greater part of these, we are told, related to the sup- 
pression of piracy, at that time carried on by all ma- 
ritime nations, especially by those on the northern 
side of the Mediterranean, — a practice which ex- 
tended, not only to the plunder of towns, but also 
to the abduction of the inhabitants, who were in- 
stantly sold into captivity. The articles presented 
in the Italian markets by the States of Barbary, 
were black slaves from the interior, precious stones, 
gold, and manufactures ; and, in return for these, 
they accepted, as has just been remarked, the pro- 
duce of the soil, — corn, wine, and oil, together with 
certain specimens of art, in which the natives were 
already beginning to excel. Malta, which belonged 
to Carthage, soon became celebrated for the beauti- 
ful cloths it produced ; Lipara and its dependen- 
cies, which owned the same government, supplied an 
abundance of resin, then esteemed a very valuable 



OF THE ANCIENT BARBARY STATES. 69 

article ; Corsica was celebrated for its wax and 
slaves ; and Elba enjoyed a high reputation, arising 
from its inexhaustible stores of iron, which were 
imagined to grow under the hand of the miner. 

It has already been suggested that the Bar- 
bary States maintained an early and very extensive 
intercourse with Spain. That country, so rich in 
natural productions, presented one of the most pro- 
fitable marts for the Carthaginian trade ; while its 
mines formed one of the principal sources of their 
revenue. At the period when they were first visited 
by the ships of the new republic, the inhabitants 
had attained just that degree of civilisation which 
made them acquainted with foreign commodities, 
and led them to covet, their possession, without hav- 
ing inspired them with the knowledge of producing 
any work of art which might be given in exchange. 
Hence the traffic with them must have been ex- 
tremely advantageous to the older nation, who could, 
in the absence of all competition, charge for their 
goods an arbitrary price. Penetrating through the 
peninsula, the chapmen of Carthage carried their 
wares into France, — not having yet established a 
footing on its southern shores, which, as is men- 
tioned above, were jealously occupied by the Greeks 
of Massilia, a people not less devoted than themselves 
to the pursuits of commerce. This early intercourse 
with Gaul is proved by the great number of mer- 
cenary troops from that country, which, during the 
first of the Sicilian wars, fought in the Carthaginian 
armies, as well as by the eager desire which was ma- 
nifested to expel the settlers, who had anticipated 
them in colonizing its richest provinces.* 

* Diodor. Sicul. lib. v. c. 21. Scylax, p. 50, quoted by Heeren. 



70 CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION 

As to the trade which the African merchants ex- 
tended into the Atlantic, it is difficult to make a 
distinction between what they accomplished as ori- 
ginal adventurers and what they inherited from 
their Phoenician progenitors. It is manifest that 
the ships of Tyre had already opened the way for 
them beyond the Pillars of Hercules ; and it admits 
not of any doubt that they continued to follow the 
track thus indicated to their commercial navy. The 
best writers on this subject are unanimous in the 
opinion, that the Carthaginians had a number of 
colonies on the western coast of Spain, as also that 
the articles which principally composed their cargoes 
were tin and amber. According to the express evi- 
dence of antiquity, the metal now mentioned was 
found, not only in the mountains of Biscay, but also 
in Britain, and in certain islands which lay not far 
from its shores.* 

With respect to the course of this trade, we are 
informed by Strabo, that in early times it was con- 
ducted by the Phoenicians, or Carthaginians, who 
had their principal seat at Gades. It would appear, 
therefore, that this people at first contented them- 
selves with the office of carriers ; though, from the 
extent of their navigation, it might be concluded 
that they frequently approached the British shores, 
and transacted business with the natives. Some 
light is thrown on this inquiry, by a passage in the 
poem of Festus Avienus, who has clothed in verse 
the more remarkable incidents which distinguished 
the voyage of Hamilco. He relates that the CEstrym- 
nian Islands, — supposed to be those now named the 
Scilly, — abound in tin and lead. Their numerous in- 

* Diodor. Sicul. lib. v. c. 19-22. 



OF THE ANCIENT BARBARY STATES. *Jl 

habitants, says he, are proud and ingenious, and devote 
themselves entirely to commerce, gliding over the sea 
in their frail canoes, formed, not of wood, but of hides. 
Two days' sail from them is the " Sacred Island/' 
inhabited by the Hibernians ; but the island of the 
Albiones is close at hand. The Tartessians were the 
first traders to the (Estrymnian Islands, though the 
colonies and the people of Carthage about the Pil- 
lars of Hercules navigate these seas. The voyage, 
as Hamilco affirms, occupies four months, as he him- 
self experienced/'' 

This quotation proves that it was chiefly the Tar- 
tessians, — in other words, the Phoenician colonists in 
Spain, — who performed the voyages to which Avi- 
enus alludes. Carthage, however, and her settle- 
ments, also took an active part ; and Hamilco him- 
self had extended his course, whether for trade or 
discovery, to the same point. The long period ex- 
hausted in a voyage, comparatively so short, is ac- 
counted for in his own narrative, in which he states 
that he proceeded along the coast, where his progress 
was impeded by many obstructions. Among these 
he mentions a vast accumulation of seaweed, which, 
together with other impediments not more intelligi- 
ble to a modern sailor, prevented him from stretch- 
ing out into the open main. The Scilly Isles were 
unquestionably the object that he had principally in 
view, though the intercourse which the Carthagi- 
nians maintained with these minor settlements com- 
prehended also some acquaintance with Hibernia 
and the neighbouring shores of Albion, both of 
which, it is more than probable, were visited by the 
Eastern navigators. In fact, from what Strabo says, 

* Festus Avienus, Ora Maritima, v. 95-125. 



72 CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION 

it may be inferred that an active commerce existed 
on the English coast, as he observes that the man- 
ners of the native tribes were rendered milder by 
their frequent intercourse with strangers. It might 
even be conjectured, from his remarks, that the mer- 
chants of Carthage had regular stations in Britain, 
without which a long stay among the inhabitants, 
such at least as to affect their habits, would not 
have been practicable. 

The trade here, as well as in the Scilly Isles, ap- 
pears to have resolved itself, as was usual in those 
ancient times, into a species of barter. Earthen- 
ware, salt, and iron tools, were the commodities 
with which the foreigners supplied them. But on 
this subject we labour under a want of details ; for, 
till the time of the Romans, the particulars of the 
traffic which the Carthaginians carried on with their 
customers beyond the Straits were enveloped in 
the profoundest secrecy. This precaution, however, 
did not keep away all competitors. The way which 
the Phoenicians found out by sea, the Greeks of 
Massilia found out by land ; for, journeying along 
the shore as far as the British Channel, whence they 
procured quantities of tin, at that time an object of 
great request, they conveyed it, after thirty days' 
travel, to the mouth of the Rhone. 

The descriptions of the ancients, in respect to the 
dealings of the Phoenician colonists, both in Spain 
and Africa, with the natives of the tin-countries, 
are at once so minute and distinct, that there is no 
room whatever for doubt as to the great extent of 
their trade and navigation several centuries before 
the Christian era. The case, however, as Heeren 
justly observes, is widely different with regard to 



OF THE ANCIENT BARBARY STATES. 



the other article which induced them to brave the 
terrors of the Atlantic, namely, the production 
which by them was denominated ee electrum," and is 
familiarly known to us by the designation of amber. 
Every circumstance connected with the obtainment 
of this commodity has been - so darkened by fable, 
that the narratives of the best authors are rendered 
quite unintelligible, — a fact which proves that the 
country whence it was procured was much more 
distant than the lands which abounded in tin. This 
obscurity, too, which every reader has cause to la- 
ment, has been not a little increased by the attempts 
of certain moderns to confine the trade in amber to 
one place ; while, from the accounts given by Pliny, 
it is clear that it was to be found in several districts 
and islands in the north of Europe. The whole of 
Scandinavia was celebrated for this valuable com- 
modity ; and, assuredly, there is no good reason for 
supposing, that the daring nation which doubled 
the Cape of Good Hope, and sailed from Tyre to 
Britain, might not also have reached the Samlandic 
coast.* 

But the absence of facts forbids any confident 
conclusion relative to this particular branch of that 
very extensive commerce in which the ancient 
States of Barbary, under the auspices of their Tyrian 
colonists, are known to have engaged ; and he who 
endeavours to elicit historical truth from the maze 
of fabulous geography with which alone we are sup- 
plied, pursues a phantom which will for ever elude 
his most eager grasp. t 

It is generally admitted, that the QEstrymnian 



* See Heeren's Historical Researches, vol. i. p. 173. 
t Ibid. 



74 CONSTITUTION^ COMMERCE; AND NAVIGATION 

or Cassiterides, that is, the Tin Islands of the an- 
cients, may be identified with those of Scilly. It 
is remarkable, however, that in these last there are no 
traces of tin at the present day, and no vestiges that 
it was ever found there in a native state. Neither, 
as a modern author observes, if the Atlantic navi- 
gation of the Carthaginians was all along the coast, 
can we see why the metals should have been 
brought thither for sale from Cornwall, which lies 
just as near Ushant, whence the trading vessels 
must have stretched across the Channel. Lelewel 
considers the Bay of Biscay to have been the great 
recess in which the CEstrymnian Islands were situat- 
ed ; but the Scilly Isles, it is well known, do not 
lie there, and no efforts will make the description 
of the cape, bay, and islands, given in Avienus, cor- 
respond with the real appearance of the western 
coast of Europe. But, on the whole, there is very 
little reason to dispute the fact, that the southern 
coast of Britain was visited by Punic merchant- 
men ; though it must be acknowledged, that there 
is no direct proof of their having proceeded any far- 
ther north. The amber w r hich was conveyed to the 
Mediterranean may have been purchased on the 
coast of Gaul, whither it could be brought overland 
by the Germans. It may even have been carried 
thither by sea ; for it is not improbable that the 
Scandinavians, even at that early epoch, were no 
less expert navigators than they were actually 
found to be at the very dawn of history.* 

While Hamilco was employed in surveying the 
western shores of Portugal and Spain, his brother 



* Foreign Quarterly ReTiew, No. sxvii. p. 220, &c. 



OF THE ANCIENT BARBARY STATES. 75 

Hanno conducted an expedition towards the south, 
with the view of planting colonies on the borders of 
Africa. His fleet amounted to sixty large ships, 
having on board 30,000 persons, who had consented 
to occupy new lands at a. distance from Carthage. 
These he distributed into six towns, which of course 
contained on an average 5000 inhabitants. They 
consisted, we are told, of Liby-Phcenicians, — -the 
descendants of the natives and of the Tyrian emi- 
grants, — and were chosen, not from the citizens, but 
from the peasantry of the adjoining districts. The 
settlements of Hanno, it is presumed, did not ex- 
tend beyond the boundaries of Fez and Morocco ; 
the first of them, which was called Thymatirium, 
being only two days' sail from the termination of 
the strait or promontory of Spartel. Next to that 
is mentioned the point of Soloe or Cape Blanco, 
where was erected a temple to Neptune, or, as Scy- 
lax describes it, a large altar decorated with bas-re- 
liefs, representing human figures, lions, and dol- 
phins. Proceeding a day and a half farther south 
along the coast, the navigator selected places for 
five towns, — Teechos, Gytta, Acra, Melite, and 
Arambe. The remotest settlement was Kerne, 
which, it is supposed, must be sought for in the vi- 
cinity of Mogadore, or, perhaps, in the Bay of Santa 
Cruz.* 

The colonies planted by Hanno seem to have 
been the first which were established in those un- 
frequented regions ; at least no traces are found in 

* Scylax. Periplus, p. 2. Festus Avienus, v. 357. 
" Ultra has columnas propter Europas latus 
Vicos et urbes incolae Carthag;nis 
Tenuere quondam." 



76 CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION 



his narrative of any community of human beings 
having fixed their abode on the lands that he ap- 
propriated. The whole length of the coast is de- 
scribed as a discovery which he appears to have car- 
ried beyond the Senegal, though he did not take 
possession of all the territory he explored. As to 
his settlements, their ultimate fate is wrapt in ob- 
scurity ; in the time of the Roman wars they had 
ceased to exist as Carthaginian dependencies, and 
had probably fallen a prey to the tribes of the neigh- 
bouring Desert. 

Their intercourse with the Atlantic shores of Af- 
rica, would almost necessarily make the Cartha- 
ginians acquainted with some of those numerous 
islands which lie scattered in the ocean. " Diodorus, 
accordingly, relates, that the Phoenicians, — a name 
which he frequently applied to the mariners of the 
Barbary States, — had detected an island many days' 
sail westward from Libya; the glowing description 
he gives of which recalls to our recollection the idea 
of such happy clusters as have from time to time 
been brought to light in the South Sea, where sum- 
mer always prevails, where the trees are ever green, 



* Diodor. Siculus, lib. \. c. 19. Heeren remarks, that the de- 
scription in the text could not apply to the Canary Islands. A 
passage in Avienus seems to allude to Teneriffe and its vol- 
cano. Beyond the Pillars lies an island, — a Ultra has columnas," 
&c 

u On Ocean's bosom spread, 
Where varying herbs in wild profusion grow, 
Sacred to Saturn is the land esteemed: 
And Nature's power is there terrific seen : 
For when by chance the mariner draws nigh 
The coast, the ambient waters rage around, 
The island shakes and starts among the waves, 
And deeply trembles ; while the ocean lies 
Calm in the distance, silent and unmoved." — Ver. lt>4. &:c. 



OF THE ANCIENT BARBARY STATES. 77 

and where the wants of the inhabitants are supplied 
by the spontaneous gifts of nature. All that he 
tells us, of its being situated at a considerable dis- 
tance in the ocean, of its streams and rivers, of its 
productions, its fruits, and foliage, agrees with no 
other island so well as Madeira. 

Historians and geographers have long disputed 
as to the extent of the navigation which the ships 
of Carthage accomplished in the Atlantic Ocean. 
Some are content with extending the limits of their 
voyages from the southern coast of Britain on the 
north to Cape Bojador on the south ; while others, 
conferring upon them a share in the direct trade 
with the Baltic, conduct their ships to the mouth of 
the Vistula and the coast of Prussia, on the one 
hand, and on the other, to the estuary of the Gam- 
bia and the shores of Guinea. It is even maintain- 
ed, that they crossed to America, and visited the 
borders of the New World, — an opinion founded so 
entirely upon conjecture, as to be beyond the reach 
of fact or reasoning, were we to undertake its refu- 
tation. We agree with an author already quoted, 
that " at the time Carthage was most flourishing, 
she traded northwards directly to Britain, and in- 
directly to the Baltic ; southwards to the Gambia 
by sea, and by caravans far into the interior of 
Africa; while eastward she carried on an active 
commerce with all parts of the Mediterranean, and, 
through the mother-city, obtained the productions 
of India. She may, too, have purchased slaves 
from the Grecian slave- dealers. Her commercial 
relations would thus have extended over nearly the 
whole of the known world, and would only have 
been surpassed by those of modern Europe since the 



78 CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION 

discovery of America, and of the passage to the 
East by the Cape of Good Hope.* 

It is manifest that the spirit of monopoly was 
a chief element in the Carthaginian laws, as is 
proved by their commercial treaties with Rome, 
and from the fact of it being the custom to drown 
the crews of such vessels, belonging to other nations, 
as were found in the vicinity of those places with 
which they carried on the most lucrative traffic. 
This ardent rivalry is assigned by Heeren as the 
main cause why their trade was not more extensive 
in the eastern parts of the Mediterranean, where 
they could not have escaped a very active competi- 
tion with the older dealers. 

It would appear that the expeditions under Han- 
no and Hamilco took place about 480 years before 
the reign of Augustus, — a period when Carthage en- 
joyed the blessing of a profound peace. Her pro- 
gress in wealth, population, and refinement, must 
already have been very considerable. A fleet of 
sixty large ships, each propelled by fifty oars, and 
having on board 30,000 emigrants, denotes the power 
and condition of a prosperous state. Another proof 
of her advancement in the arts and enjoyments of 
social life, is the attention paid by her citizens to 
agriculture regarded as a science. Pliny relates, 
that when the Romans overthrew the city of Dido, 
they gave the libraries found there to their allies, 
the Xumidians, — a circumstance which throws some 
light upon the manner in which the works of the 
Carthaginian historians had come into the posses- 
sion of King Hiempsal. The works of Mago alone. 



* Foreign Quarterly Review, No. zxvii. p. 225. 



OF THE ANCIENT BARBAE, Y STATES. 79 

one of the kings or suffetes, extending to twenty- 
eight books,, were translated into Latin by Soiinus ; 
some fragments of which, preserved by the distin- 
guished naturalist to whom we owe our knowledge 
of this fact, are sufficient to show, that the royal 
author treated fully of all kinds of husbandry, agri- 
culture, planting, breeding of stock, and the im- 
provement of fruit-trees. It cannot, then, be doubt- 
ed, even if the mention of libraries failed to prove 
it, that there was a Carthaginian literature ; that it 
was patronised by the great ; and had already 
passed from the romance of poetry, the first compo- 
sition of all rude nations, into the more didactic 
form of prose.* 

All accounts agree in praising the high state of 
cultivation found in the neighbourhood of Carthage. 
We learn from Diodorus, that the territory through 
which Agathocles led his army, after landing on the 
African shore, was covered with gardens and large 
plantations, every where abounding in canals, by 
means of which they were plentifully watered. A 
continual succession of fine estates were seen, adorn- 
ed with elegant buildings, which indicated the opu- 
lence of their proprietors. These dwellings, says he, 
were furnished with every thing requisite for the 
enjoyment of men ; the owners having accumulated 
immense stores during the long peace. The lands 
were planted with vines, with palms, and with many 
other trees bearing fruit. On one side were mea- 
dows filled with flocks and herds, and on the lower 
grounds were seen numerous brood-mares reserved for 
the uses of the army, the chariot, or the husbandman. 
In short, the whole prospect displayed the riches of 
* Plin, Hist. Nat. lib. xviii. c. 3. 



80 CONSTITUTION, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION 

the inhabitants ; while the higher ranks had very 
extensive possessions, and vied with one another in 
pomp and luxury.* 

Fifty years later, when the dominions of Carthage 
were invaded by the Romans, a similar picture is 
given by Polybius of the wealth, elegance, and cul- 
tivation which every where adorned them. On that 
occasion, a number of splendid villas were destroyed, 
an immense booty was obtained in cattle, and above 
20,000 slaves were carried away. The same his- 
torian relates, that at the period now mentioned, 
the better class of the people drew their private in- 
come from their own estates ; the public revenue 
was derived from the provinces.t 

We have already alluded to the land-trade of 
Carthage, which, by means of caravans, she appears 
to have carried far into the South, the East, and the 
West. Herodotus, whose knowledge of ancient Af- 
rica was much more complete and accurate than hasty 
critics are wont to imagine, has traced with much 
precision the routes of the merchant-travellers from 
the neighbourhood of the Syrtis to F'ezzan, Siwah 
or Ammonium, Thebes, the regions of the Joliba, 
and even the borders of the western desert. No 
difficulties however great, no dangers however ap- 
palling, can check the avarice or damp the courage 
of man, when wealth, conquest, or revenge, become 
the motives of his actions. Gold, precious stones, 
drugs, spices, dates, salt, and slaves, were the objects 
upon which the Phoenician colonists and their Lib- 
yan subjects placed the greatest value, and to obtain 
which they consented to undergo the most painful 

* Diod. Sicul. lib. ix. c. 26, &c. 

•f Polyb. lib. i. c. 5, and lib. ii. c. 3, 4, 5. 

5 



OP THE ANCIENT BARBARY STATES. 81 

toils, and encounter the most frightful hazards that 
a wilderness, many hundred miles in extent, parch- 
ed by the sun, disturbed by moving sands, and des- 
titute of water, could present to the imagination. 
By these means, however, — her colonies, her fleets, 
andher internal commerce, — Carthage became one of 
the most powerful commonwealths of ancient times ; 
and by the fame which she acquired as the patron 
of discovery and navigation, by her gallant struggle 
with Rome, the victories of her generals, and their 
conquests in Italy, Gaul, and Spain, he has confer- 
red upon the Barbary States a degree of renown 
which could not otherwise have fallen to their lot. 

The rulers of Carthage have been blamed for 
yielding to the temptation of engaging in. war. It 
has been imagined that, had they followed the ex- 
ample of Tyre, their greatness would never have 
been impaired, nor their stability menaced ; inas- 
much as all nations would have shown a readiness 
to trade with her, if she had not avowed an inten- 
tion to conquer a settlement in every country where 
her crews were permitted to land. Experience has 
proved, however, that an extensive foreign commerce 
cannot be maintained without territorial possessions. 
The colonies of England, Holland, and France, in 
the remotest parts of the globe, seem to establish the 
fact, that the soldier, if he do not precede, will ever 
follow closely in the footsteps of the merchant. 

The fate of this celebrated republic, however, was 
hastened, not so much by her warlike propensities 
and desire of conquest, as by the necessity which 
was imposed upon her of employing foreign merce- 
naries to fight her battles. She enlisted, in Africa, 
Spain, and Gaul, troops who could have no sincere 

E 



82 CONSTITUTION, C03I3IERCE, AND NAVIGATION 

interest in her prosperity or reputation, and who, 
upon the slightest reverse of fortune, were ready to 
take part with her enemies, and even to draw the 
sword under their banners. The expense, too, in- 
cident to protracted wars, by exhausting her ordi- 
nary resources, compelled her to lay oppressive taxes 
on her subjects, and more especially on her African 
dependencies ; who, it is said, were on some occa- 
sions obliged to surrender, in the form of tribute, not 
less than half the produce of their lands. Again, by 
employing in the field her Numidian allies, the 
fearless horsemen of the Sahara, she taught them to 
render their courage formidable, by adding to it the 
valuable qualities of discipline and subordination ; 
and, accordingly, when the final contest arose, the 
Romans found most efficient auxiliaries in the squa- 
drons of Masinissa, Syphax, and Juba, who were 
eager to avenge on the proud republic the injuries 
which their countrymen had formerly sustained at 
the hands of the Phoenician settlers. The fall of 
Carthage has, moreover, been ascribed to that ne- 
glect of her maritime forces which was manifested 
during the last Punic war. When Scipio crossed 
from Sicily to Africa, there was not a fleet to oppose 
him. But the principal cause of her decline and 
ultimate overthrow was the fierce hostility of rival 
factions within her own walls. Two great parties, 
arrayed the one against the other, indulged their 
mutual enmity while the legions were at her gates : 
tyranny on the one hand was met by turbulence on 
the other ; and each section of the commonwealth, 
with the language of patriotism in their mouths, 
were more pleased to see their country perish than 
to witness the ascendency of their political antago- 



OF THE ANCIENT BARBARY STATES. 83 



nists. In the fate of Carthage was exemplified the 
usual result of a popular government and of civic 
contention : the voice of clamour is silenced only by 
the shouts of a triumphant foe, who puts an end to 
the rivalry of parties by treading all distinctions 
under foot. 

The late Emperor of France was wont to com- 
pare our countrymen to the Carthaginians ; both 
being distinguished by their success in commerce, 
their command of the sea, and their numerous colo- 
nies : And, for reasons which appeared satisfactory 
to his penetrating mind, he predicted that a similar 
fate, originating in similar causes, would at no dis- 
tant period overtake his great rival. Let us hope 
that the voice of history will not be heard in vain ; 
and that the errors of past ages will impress modern 
states with the feelings of wisdom and caution. 



84 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



CHAPTER III. 

Modern History of the Barbary States. 

Time when the Barbary States assumed an independent Existence — 
The Libyans first inhabited Northern Africa — Influence of Phoeni- 
cian Colonies — Ancient and Modern Divisions of the Country — 
Extent of Roman Conquests — Revival of Carthage — Rebuilt from 
its own Ruins — Site and Description of it — Remains of former 
Magnificence — Mercenary Conduct of Romanus, Count of Afri- 
ca — Sufferings of the Tripolitans — Usurpation of Firmus — Vic- 
tories of Theodosius — Death of Firmus — Insurrection under Gildo 
— Wisdom and Bravery of Stilicho — Death of Gildo — Rebellion of 
Heraclian — Error of Bonifacius — He invites the Vandals — Pro- 
gress of Genseric, their General — Death of Bonifacius — Continued 
Success of the Vandals — Fall of Carthage — Severe Sufferings of 
the Inhabitants — Policy of Genseric — He creates a Navy — Sacks 
Rome — Prosecutes a Maritime War — Marjorian meditates the 
Invasion of Africa — His Fleet is destroyed by Fire — Attempt of 
Basilicus — Loss of his Ships — Death of Genseric — Accession of 
Justinian — Usurpation of Gelimer in Africa — Belisarius takes 
the Command there — Victory over Gelimer — He reduces Car- 
thage — Conquest of Africa — Surrender of Gelimer — Decay of the 
Vandal Power — Africa gradually relapses into Barbarism — Com- 
merce and Agriculture languish — Arrival of the Saracens — Con- 
duct of the Prefect Gregory — Valour of Akbah — Dissension 
among the Caliphs — Akbah is slain — Conduct and Fate of Zo- 
beir — Foundation of Kairwan — Hassan retakes Carthage — The 
Greek Imperialists defeated, and finally leave the Country — The 
Moors contend for the Sovereignty — Queen Cahina — Her Success 
and Defeat — Union of the Moors and Mohammedan Arabs — 
Revolt of Ibrahim — Dynasty of the Aglabites — Other Dynasties 
founded by Rostam and Edris — Rise of the Fatimites — Of the 
Zeirites — Emigration of Arabs from the Red Sea — The Almo- 
hades and Almoravides. 



As it was not till about the time when the ascen- 
dency of the Turks was established in the Eastern 
Empire, that the modern kingdoms of Tripoli, T u- 



THE BARBAKY STATES. 



85 



nis, Algiers, and Morocco, claimed the notice of the 
geographer or historian as separate, and in some 
degree independent governments, the annals of 
Northern Africa, down to the end of the fifteenth 
century, will he most conveniently presented under 
one head, and as applicable to the whole country 
which stretches from Cyrene to the Western Ocean. 
It has been already remarked that this region, if 
we follow the line of the coast, may be estimated at 
not less than 2000 miles ; though its breadth, con- 
fined between the Mediterranean and the Sahara, 
does not exceed 150, even where the sandy border 
is farthest removed. 

Till the arrival of the Phoenicians, that fertile" co- 
lony was inhabited by the Libyans, accounted by 
ancient writers among the most savage of mankind, 
— a race of wandering shepherds who, in our times, 
are more familiarly known by the appellation of 
Berbers, from which the whole maritime district has 
taken its name. The proximity of the Tyrian set- 
tlement produced, to some extent, on their character 
and habits, those changes which a civilized people 
hardly ever fail to accomplish among rude tribes, 
strangers to reflection, and to all the artificial en- 
joyments of life. But, even at the present day, the 
descendants of those simple Nomades occupy a pro- 
minent station in the land of their fathers ; and 
are, it is thought, easily distinguishable from the 
Moors, as well as from those other families of later 
origin, whose lineage belongs to the central parts of 
Asia or even of Europe. The following representa- 
tion exhibits the features and dress of these children 
of the Desert, who, it will be observed, bear no slight 
resemblance to the inhabitants of Southern Arabia, 
with whom their oldest tradition connects them. 



86 



MODERN HISTORY OF 




Berbers. 



It has appeared that, under the immediate juris- 
diction of Carthage, the neighbouring lands became 
the centre of commerce and of empire ; though the 
remains of that renowned commonwealth must now 
be sought in the disorderly states of Tripoli and 
Tunis. The Numidia, which w r as the object of con- 
tention between Jugurtha and Masinissa, is at pre- 
sent subject to the military government of Algiers ; 
though a large portion of that kingdom was with- 
drawn in the reign of Augustus, and erected into a 
jDroconsular province, under the title of Mauritania 
Cassariensis. The true country of the Moors, which, 
from the ancient city of Tingi, or Tangier, was de- 
nominated Tingitana, is placed in our maps as the 
sovereignty of Fez. The Romans extended their 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



87 



sway as far as the ocean, comprehending Sallee, once 
so infamous for its piracies ; and Mequinez, a resi- 
dence of the Emperor of Morocco, may still be iden- 
tified as one of their foundations. 

Under the fostering care of the imperial govern- 
ment, more especially as administered by Augustus, 
the first of its sovereigns, Carthage emerged from its 
ruins, and became once more the capital of Africa 
Propria, the territory to which the senate thought it 
meet to restrict this designation. In truth, if a judg- 
ment may be formed from the relics which still 
remain, it must be admitted that the principal 
grandeur of the new city was bestowed upon it, at 
a period subsequent to the age of the beneficent 
ruler just named, and when architectural taste had 
already somewhat declined. Several of the muti- 
lated statues, we are told, are in the worst style of 
the Lower Empire. There are, notwithstanding, 
many proofs that the birthplace of Hannibal must 
have been occupied soon after its first and violent 
destruction; several of the walls and even of the 
towers being composed of ancient fragments con- 
fusedly piled together. Most of the arcades and 
public buildings, too, appear to have been made 
up of massy blocks of sandstone and conglomerate, 
disposed in layers, without cement, or with a spe- 
cies of it which has almost entirely dissolved. The 
greatest care seems to have been lavished upon the 
temples. These edifices were constructed in a style 
of the utmost magnificence, adorned with immense 
columns of granite and marble ; the shafts of which, 
generally speaking, consisted of a single piece. 

Even here, however, there are indications that 
the Roman Carthage was indebted for some of its 



88 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



decorations to the Carthage founded by the Phoeni- 
cians. Many of the pillars now found are of the 
Corinthian order, and belong, of course, to an im- 
proved epoch of the art ; but amongst them are also 
seen enormous masses of a different description, dis- 
playing capitals and triglyphs, which render it ex- 
tremely probable that a structure of Doric archi- 
tecture had previously occupied the site at present 
covered with their common ruins. The more mo- 
dern city, at all events, must have been encompass- 
ed with strong walls of solid masonry, furnished 
with magnificent gates, and ornamented with spa- 
cious porticos. It was divided, too, from its princi- 
pal suburb on the east by a river, the mouth of which, 
forming an extensive basin, was called the fC Co- 
thon," defended at its narrow entrance by two strong 
fortifications, and connected with which were a 
couple of moles, still seen stretching out under the 
water. On the banks of this stream, the bed of 
which continues to be occupied by a rivulet, are the 
remains of various aqueducts, and some large reser- 
voirs in excellent preservation. Between the prin- 
cipal cisterns and a torrent which passes to the west- 
ward of Leptis, some mounds have been construct- 
ed across the plain, by means of which the winter 
rains were conveyed for the use of the city. On 
the eastern bank of the river already mentioned 
are the vestiges of a galley-port and of numerous 
baths, together with a circus richly ornamented 
with obelisks and columns. The whole plain, in- 
deed, from the Margib Hills to the Cinyphus, pre- 
sents unequivocal proofs of great opulence and a 
dense population.* 

* Beechey, p. 74. Leo Africamis remarks, a Notissirnum hoc 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



89 



These fragments of ancient magnificence leave no 
doubt as to the care bestowed by the Romans upon 
the capital of their Africa, however difficult it may 
be to determine the proportion of them which be- 
longs to a remoter period. Nor can it be necessary 
to remark that the second Carthage, with the pro- 
vinces subjected to its jurisdiction, shared largely 
in those vicissitudes and political commotions which 
shook the empire itself, both before and after the 
reign of Constantine. At one time three hundred 
cities are said to have acknowledged her authority, 
after she had risen with new splendour from her 
ashes, and when she had once more acquired, as a 
provincial metropolis, all the advantages which can 
be separated from independent sovereignty.* 

The first calamities which Roman Africa endur- 
ed, arose from the ferocious character of her neigh- 
bours, and the avarice of those who were sent by 
the imperial court to exercise the government. In 
the reign of Valentinian, about the middle of the 
fourth century, the military command was intrusted 
to a chief, whose sordid views were the leading mo- 
tives of his conduct, and who, on most occasions, 
acted as if he had been the enemy of the province, 
and the friend of the barbarians by whom it was 
assailed. The three flourishing cities of Oea, Lep- 
tis, and Sabrata, which, under the name of Tripolis, 
had long constituted a federal union, were obliged, 

atque antiquissisimum oppidum a quodam populo extructura fuit 
qui ex Syria hue venerat. Alii vero a Regina quadam conditum 
raalunt.— Quare nihil est in prassentia quod de hujus conditoribus 
affirmem ; nam praeterquam quod varie Af ri atque historiographi 
inter se dissentiant, nemo est illorum qui inde aliquid scriptum 
reliquerit nisi post Romani imperii decrementum. — P. 553. Edit. 
1632. 

* Strab. Geog. lib. xvii. 



90 



MODERN HISTORY OP 



for the first time, to shut their gates in order to protect 
the lives and property of their inhabitants from the 
savages of the Desert. After much suffering, the 
civic rulers applied to Romanus, entitled the Count 
of Africa, entreating him to march to their relief, 
and promising to raise, without delay, the supplies 
of money and camels, which he had made the con- 
dition of their obtaining his protection. 

But the mercenary general, hoping that the fears 
of the Tripolitans would hasten their gifts, delayed 
his assistance till many of the citizens were surprised 
and massacred, their villages burnt, their suburbs 
plundered, and the vines and fruit-trees of their fine 
territory rooted up or consumed with fire. A de- 
putation to Rome was instantly resolved upon by the 
assembly of the three cities, the members of which 
were instructed to inform Valentinian of their de- 
plorable condition, and, at the same time, to convey 
to his ears the well-founded complaint, that they 
were ruined by the enemy, and betrayed by his 
lieutenant. The count, however, contrived to anti- 
cipate this intelligence, which must have endanger- 
ed his command and perhaps his life, and to im- 
press upon the minds of the imperial council, that the 
murmurs against him had no other foundation than 
the cowardice or disaffection of the provincialists. 
An investigation was commanded by the emperor, 
who appears to have been animated with a sincere 
desire to discover the truth, and to pronounce an 
award according to justice. But Roman us expe- 
rienced as little difficulty in deceiving or corrupting 
the commissioners, as he had to encounter in his 
attempts upon the honesty of the supreme govern- 
ment. The charge against him was declared to 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



91 



be false ; the information lodged by the people of 
Tripolis was interpreted as the proof of a conspiracy ; 
and orders were given to prosecute the authors of it 
as traitors to their lawful sovereign. The inquiries 
were managed with so much dexterity, that the ci- 
tizens of Leptis, who had sustained a siege of eight 
days, were compelled to contradict the truth of their 
own decrees, and to censure the behaviour of their 
own deputies. A sentence, sanctioned by Valenti- 
nian, condemned the president of the Tripolitan coun- 
cil to death; and, accordingly, this distinguished 
person, as well as four others of similar rank, were 
publicly executed, as accomplices in an imaginary 
treason.* 

This cruel and unjust decision, by showing the 
subjects of the Roman colony that they were ex- 
cluded from the benefits of an equal government, 
diminished whatever affection or confidence they 
might have entertained towards the masters of Af- 
rica. An occurrence soon took place, which ex- 
posed their allegiance to a severe test. Firm us, the 
son of Nabal, a Moorish prince, had forced his way 
to the occupation of his barbarian sovereignty by 
destroying the life of a brother, whose birth gave 
him a better claim, and who, moreover, enjoyed the 
patronage of the Romans. Imitating the conduct 
of Jugurtha, this usurper had recourse at once to 
policy and arms ; but finding the former unavail- 
ing, and that the count was about to prove an in- 
exorable enemy, he took the field at the head of a 
powerful body of troops, and bade defiance to his 
resentment. The authority of Firmus was soon 
established in all the provinces of Numidia and 

* Amraian. Marcell. lib. xviii. c. 6. 



92 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



Mauritania; while the indiscriminating fury with 
which he pursued his conquests along the shores of 
the Mediterranean, compelled or induced many of 
the provincialists to join his standard.* 

Romanus, whose talents were only displayed in 
the arts of oppression and frauds found himself un- 
equal to oppose the victorious insurgents, who al- 
ready possessed, as confederates or vassals, nearly all 
the towns between Cfesarea and the ocean. Africa, 
accordingly, must have been severed from the em- 
pire, had not Theodosius been sent to restore its 
affairs, and to repel the ravages of the Moors. Fir- 
mus, though his arms and treasures were still un- 
diminished, gave way to despair as soon as he learn- 
ed that a commander so renowned had landed on 
the coast. At first, he had recourse to an apparent 
submission, with a view to deceive the vigilance of 
his opponent, and he even attempted to corrupt the 
soldiers, w T hom he dared not to encounter in the 
field. The imperial lieutenant, who was not igno- 
rant of the character of the prince with whom he 
condescended to negotiate, listened to his expressions 
of repentance and promises of fidelity ; but, at the 
same time, kept a watchful eye over his proceedings, 
and was busy in making preparations for the war in 
which he was aware that all their professions of 
mutual friendship must ultimately terminate. Nor 
was it long before these suspicions were realized. A 
conspiracy, which aimed at the life of Theodosius, 
was detected, and involved in capital punishment 
some of the principal adherents of the Mauritanian 
chief, although he himself, who was ready to profit 
by their success, effected his escape into his native 

* Ammian. Marc ell. lib. xxix. c. 5. 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



93 



dominions, and left them to their fate. But the 
Roman general having determined that his life also 
should pay the penalty of his rashness, in presuming 
to attack the subjects of the empire, pursued him 
into the fastnesses of Mount Atlas, and finally suc- 
ceeded in making him prisoner. Firmus, however, 
resolved to disappoint the triumph of his adversary, 
who had meant to make him a public example ; and, 
adopting the maxims of his age and country as to 
the right of the human being to shorten or protract 
his own existence, relieved himself from shame by 
committing suicide. 

a. d. 386. But the death of this tyrant did not se- 
cure permanent tranquillity to the African provinces. 
Gildo, his brother, had been allowed to retain the 
vast possessions which had been forfeited by treason : 
and as his fidelity and services to the empire seemed 
to merit a still higher reward, he was raised to the 
dignity of a count, and invested with the command 
of the Roman territory. As, however, his power 
increased, his insolence and cruelty became daily 
more intolerable ; and, profiting by the dissensions 
which preceded the accession of Theodosius to the 
throne, he hesitated not to announce himself the 
sovereign of Africa. During twelve years, the coun- 
try groaned under the domination of an upstart, who 
seemed at once to disregard his native land, and to 
encourage the factions by which it was divided. At 
length, when Arcadius was elevated to the government 
of the East, the count, who had promised to respect 
the authority of Honorius, his rightful sovereign, 
chose to transfer to the former his allegiance and aid, 
which the ministers of that weak prince advised him 
to accept. But at this important crisis the councils 



94 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



of the West were directed by Stilicho, a brave sol- 
dier and experienced statesman, who prevailed upon 
the senate to denounce Gildo as a rebel and public 
enemy. Troops were assembled and transports were 
prepared to carry the revenge of the republic against 
the ungrateful Moor, to strip him of the honours 
which he had abused, and to punish the numerous 
crimes laid to his charge. The command of a small 
army of veterans was confided to Mascezel, another 
son of the house of Xabal, who, being obliged to 
fly from the ferocious jealousy of his brother, had 
sought refuge in Italy, where he heard of the in- 
human massacre of his wife and children, whom he 
was compelled to leave behind.* 

a. d. 598. Gildo, who soon received notice of the 
preparations which were making against him, ex- 
erted his utmost activity and means to collect an 
army which might successfully repel the meditated 
invasion. He endeavoured, by the most profuse 
liberality, to secure the attachment of the regular 
troops who had joined in his revolt; while he drew 
from the deserts of Getulia and the valleys of Atlas 
a large body of natives who were accustomed to re- 
gard him as their hereditary prince. Seeing around 
him a host amounting, it is said, to 70.000 men, he 
boasted that his cavalry would trample under their 
horses' feet the few cohorts which accompanied his 
brother, or drive them back into the sea. But the 
issue of the first battle disappointed all his hopes ; 
the sense of duty returned to the legionary soldiers 
on whom he chiefly relied; and his Xumidians, 
perceiving themselves deserted by their confederates, 
fled in irretrievable confusion. The vanquished 

* Claudian. de Bell. Gild. v. 389, &c. Orosius, lib. vii. c. oti. 
7 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



95 



despot threw himself into a ship and attempted to 
escape into Greece ; but the wind proving contrary, 
the mariners were under the necessity of returning 
to the African shore, where he was immediately 
seized and committed to a dungeon. Aware of the 
insult and pains which awaited him, should he be 
delivered either to Mascezel or the Romans, he 
imitated the example of Firmus, and with his own 
hands put an end to his life." 5 " 

a. d. 4i3. But Africa, at the troubled period now 
under our consideration, did not long enjoy the 
blessing of peace procured for it by the wise mea- 
sures of Stilicho. The consternation occasioned by 
the invasion of the Goths had hardly passed away, 
when Heraclian, who presided over that province, 
displayed the standard of rebellion and assumed 
the title of emperor. Collecting a formidable army, 
which he conveyed across the Mediterranean in 
3000 boats, he landed near the mouth of the Tiber, 
with the intention of proceeding to Rome ; but, 
being met on the way by one of the imperial com- 
manders at the head of an inferior force, he sustained 
a severe defeat, which compelled him to relinquish 
his hazardous enterprise. Upon returning to Car- 
thage, he found that the whole country, disdaining 
his pretensions to a dignity to which his talents 
were unequal, had returned to their allegiance. He 
soon discovered, too, that the punishment of unsuc- 
cessful treason awaited him ; he was condemned to 
be beheaded, and his fortune, amounting to nearly 
,£200,000 of our money, was confiscated for the 
use of the public, or conferred upon his conqueror.t 

* Zosimus, lib. v. Claudian, de Cons. Stilich. v. 357. 

•f Oros. lib. vii. c. 42. Zosira. lib. vi. Sozomen. lib. ix. c. 12. 



96 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



a. d. 427. The time, however, was now fast ap- 
proaching when the African provinces were to be 
lost to the Roman empire. Under the administra- 
tion of Placidia, who directed the government of 
the West in the name of her son, Valentinian the 
Third, the safety of the commonwealth was sacri- 
ficed to the jealousy of two chiefs, iEtius and Boni- 
facius. The latter, whose conduct had been misre- 
presented at court, was recalled from his command ; 
when, apprehensive that his life was in danger, he 
resolved upon the most desperate measures, in order 
to defeat the designs of his enemies. Not satisfied 
with arming the provincials and declaring his inde- 
pendence, he invited from Spain the aid of the 
Vandals, who, led by their king, the sanguinary 
Genseric, crossed the Straits and established their 
camp in Mauritania. His followers, who did not 
at first exceed 50,000, received a rapid augmenta- 
tion of very active allies. The Moors, who had 
endured rather than acknowledged the sovereignty 
of Rome, seized with eagerness an occasion so fa- 
vourable for abjuring it, as well as for gratifying 
their revenge on their ancient oppressors. Thou- 
sands of them issued from the neighbourhood of 
the Sahara, and the wilds of the mountain-range 
by which its northern limits are defined ; and, re- 
gardless of future consequences as they might affect 
their native governments, placed themselves under 
the banners of the warlike prince who had vowed 
hostility to their enemies. An accession to his num- 
bers was also obtained from the heretical Donatists, 
who had been recently expelled from the Catholic 
church, and subjected to severities little in harmony 
with the mild spirit of the Gospel. To these perse- 



THE BASBARY STATES. 



97 



cuted fanatics, Genseric appeared in the light of 
a powerful deliverer, from whose zeal, not less op- 
posed than their own to the orthodox faith, they 
might reasonably expect a repeal of those hateful 
edicts of which they had been made the victims. 
It admits not of any doubt, that the co-operation of 
these dissentients from the established creed contri- 
buted materially to the conquest of Africa; and 
that the loss of the most important province of the 
Western Empire was at least accelerated by the 
intolerant spirit which then prevailed among the 
dominant sect of Christians.* 

a. d. 430. No sooner had Bonifacius discovered the 
fraud of his rival, than he deeply regretted the precipi- 
tance of which he had been guilty in inviting the alli- 
ance of the barbarians. But amidst the confusion and 
distress to which the province was already reduced, 
his repentance was unavailing : for, although Car- 
thage and certain other Roman garrisons professed 
their readiness to obey the orders of Valentinian, the 
country at large was under the control of the Van- 
dals, who could not be prevailed upon to relinquish 
their prey. Assembling the small band of veterans 
who still adhered to his standard, and such provin- 
cial troops as seemed worthy of his confidence, he 
resolved to make one effort to retrieve the bad ef- 
fects of his error, by attacking Genseric in the field. 
A battle was fought, in which, though the count 
displayed equal courage and skill, he was worsted 
with considerable loss, and compelled to leave his de- 
fenceless territory to the rage of a savage conqueror. 

The misery inflicted upon Northern Africa by 

* Chronicles of Prosper and Idatius, quoted by Gibbon, chapter 
xxxiii. 

F 



93 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



the soldiers, and more especially by the native allies, 
of this celebrated leader, has been described in vivid 
colours by several writers, both ecclesiastical and 
civil. Seven fruitful provinces, it is said, were de- 
stroyed by these invaders. Wherever they met 
resistance, they put all to the sword ; when a city 
was taken, its defenders were buried in its ruins : 
and where hidden wealth was suspected, torture 
was applied^ without remorse, to both sexes and all 
ag^s. They took pleasure in effacing every mark of 
civilisation and improvement ; rooting up trees, whe- 
ther planted for use or for ornament, pulling down 
churches, and even slaughtering the inhabitants in 
order that their unburied bodies might infect the air, 
and spread still farther the ravages of mortality. It 
may well be believed, that the generous mind of 
Bonifacius was painfully distressed by beholding 
the ruin which he had occasioned, the rapid pro- 
gress of which he was totally unable to repress. 
After the loss of the battle already mentioned, he 
retired into Hippo Regius, now called Bona, where 
he was instantly besieged by Genseric, who regarded 
him as the only obstacle to the fulfilment of all his 
wishes relative to Africa.'' 

The Vandals did not display, in the reduction of 
strongholds, the same military qualities which se- 
cured to them so many victories in the open plain : 
and hence, fourteen months were spent before any 
material impression was made on the walls or re- 
sources of Hippo. The wants of the garrison were 



* MarmoL L'Afrique ; tome ii. p. 434. He tells us that the Bona 
of modern j-eographers was formerly named Hippo : ; - On la nom- 
moit autrefois Hippone, qui est sur la coste de la mer Mediterranee 
au golfede Xumidie." 



THE BARBARY STATES? 



99 



supplied by sea ; the sick were refreshed, and the 
wounded removed ; while the besiegers, who relied 
exclusively upon the surrounding country for pro- 
visions, were occasionally compelled by the pres- 
sure of famine to relinquish their attempt. At 
length, a powerful army, composed as well of the 
troops of the East as of the West, debarked on the 
coast, with orders not only to relieve the count 
from the disgrace of a protracted blockade, but also 
to drive the barbarians from the province. 

Bonifacius, finding himself at the head of a force 
at once so numerous and well appointed, resolved 
to give battle to his former ally ; and with this in- 
tention he marched out against him into the neigh- 
bouring fields, where he made arrangements for a 
decisive conflict. The combatants met with equal 
eagerness, — the one to avenge the injuries which 
had been inflicted upon the property and reputation 
of the empire, the other to complete the subjugation 
of a country which he was determined to add to 
his numerous conquests. On this occasion, as well 
as on the former, the fortune of war declared in 
favour of the Vandals ; the legions of Rome and 
the squadrons who followed Aspar from the shores 
of the Bosphorus, were scattered by the impetuous 
onset of the rude warriors of the North ; and the 
Italian general, who no longer put any confidence 
in arms, fled to the ships with the remainder of his 
troops. It may not be unseasonable to remark, 
that the imperial lieutenant who, to fortify his pri- 
vate interests, invited a furious enemy into his go- 
vernment, fell in a skirmish with iEtius, who had 
originally poisoned his mind with suspicion, and 
drawn upon him the frown of the court.* 

* Procopius De Bell. Vandal, lib. i. c. 3. 



100 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



a. d. 451. After this distinguished success, the pro- 
gress of the Vandals was more rapid and destructive 
than ever. But, as is usual in all such cases, Gen- 
seric soon discovered that the distracted state of the 
country, and the multitude of factions, whence he 
had derived so much advantage in his struggle with 
the Romans, would prevent him from consolidating 
his power as sovereign of Northern Africa. Influ- 
enced by such considerations, he entered into a 
treaty with the emperor, whereby he bound himself 
to cede that extensive region which constitutes the 
modern kingdoms of Morocco and Algiers, and was 
known to ancient history under the denomination 
of the Three Mauritanias. He perceived, in fact, 
that without a large maritime force he could not 
defend the whole line of coast extending from the 
Atlantic Ocean to the remotest bounds of Tripolis ; 
and, accordingly, acting upon the most obvious poli- 
tical motives, he consented to relinquish a territory 
which it would have proved almost impossible for 
him to retain. 

But his apparent moderation was only meant as 
a cloak to conceal his ambitious designs. He had 
fixed his eyes on Carthage, the Rome, as it was 
called, of the African kingdoms ; and, while he per- 
mitted the subjects of Valentinian to occupy the 
western deserts, he pushed on with the determina- 
tion to make himself master of the provincial capi- 
tal. This celebrated city appears to have been taken 
by surprise ; at least no details of siege or battle 
are supplied by the historians who record its fall ; 
though there is in their statements the most perfect 
agreement as to the date of its overthrow, and the 
complete desolation by which it was accompanied. 

2 



THE BARJBARY STATES. 101 

In the year 439,, being nearly six centuries after 
its destruction by Publius Emilianus Scipio, the 
colony and town of Dido became the booty of igno- 
rant soldiers, whose maxim it was to live by their 
swords.* 

The King of the Vandals, whatever might have 
been his private wishes, could not save from pillage 
the wealthy metropolis which had just fallen into 
his hands. After permitting his troops to enjoy the 
usual freedoms consequent upon a successful assault, 
he issued an edict, commanding all persons to de- 
liver into the hands of certain officers their gold, 
silver, jewels, and other valuable effects ; and, at 
the same time, giving an assurance, that the slight- 
est attempt to conceal any part of their property 
would be punished with death, as an act of treason 
against the state. The lands, also, were measured 
with suitable care, that they might be divided among 
the triumphant warriors according to their respective 
rank or merits ; Genseric reserving for his personal 
share the fertile domain of Byzacium, with the adja- 
cent territory of Numidia and Getulia. It is impos- 
sible to measure the losses, sufferings, and privations, 
which the higher class of citizens were doomed to 
endure under the military despotism now imposed 
upon them by their conquerors. The Christian 
writers of that age, who witnessed the misery which 
they could not relieve, have deplored in eloquent 
terms the cruel persecutions directed against their 
orthodox brethren by the agents of the Arian prince. 
Regardless, or ignorant, perhaps, of the peculiar 
tenets which marked his creed, this tyrant viewed 
mere difference of opinion as a proof of insubordi- 

* Procopius De Bell. Vandal, lib. i. c. 5. 



102 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



nation,, and as indicating that love of liberty which, 
on a favourable occasion, might instigate those who 
cherished it to undermine his regal power, or dis- 
pute his prerogative. His severities and intolerance 
filled Italy and even the Eastern Empire with exiles, 
who had no resource but the compassion of the pub- 
lic ; and, although there may be some exaggeration 
in the narratives through which the main facts have 
reached our times, the most careless reader cannot 
fail to perceive that the triumphs of Genseric im- 
posed a train of frightful calamities on the finest 
provinces of Northern Africa. 

Actuated by the desire to render his conquest 
permanent, and also, perhaps, to extend its limits, 
the barbarian prince turned his attention to the 
equipment of a fleet. He had acquired, indeed, a 
rich and fertile territory ; but he was aware that, 
as long as the Romans could command the Medi- 
terranean, he must be constantly liable to a sudden 
attack, directed at pleasure against any part of his 
extensive coast. His resolution to create a naval 
power, in every point of view so essential to his 
security, was pursued with a steady perseverance. 
In the glens of Mount Atlas he found an inexhaust- 
ible supply of timber ; and the inhabitants of the 
seaport-towns which he had lately reduced were 
acquainted with the art of shipbuilding. Nor was 
it long before a formidable armament was seen to 
issue from his harbours, prepared not only to protect 
their own shores, but even to carry terror to those 
of their enemy. Having no inducement to seek 
new lands or additional subjects among the tribes 
of the Desert, Genseric saw the possibility of in- 
creasing his treasures as well as his reputation by 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



103 



making a descent on Italy itself. The death of 
Valentinian, which paralysed the Roman govern- 
ment, seemed to secure for his attempt the certainty 
of success ; and accordingly, after due preparation, 
he boldly wafted an army of Vandals to the mouth 
of the Tiber. 

a. d. 455. It is no part of our task to describe the 
sacking of Rome, nor to examine into the motives 
which led to that memorable catastrophe. The pil- 
lage, we are assured, lasted fourteen days and as 
many nights ; and all that could be found of public 
or private wealth was eagerly conveyed to the ships 
of Genseric. Among the spoils, the splendid relics 
of two sanctuaries, or rather of two religions, ex- 
hibited an instructive example of the uncertainty 
of earthly things. Though paganism had been abo- 
lished, the statues of the gods and heroes were still 
respected ; and the curious roof of gilt bronze which 
had once adorned the Capitol was reserved for the 
hands of this rapacious invader. The holy instru- 
ments of the Jewish worship, — the golden table, 
and the candlestick with seven branches, originally 
framed according to the particular instructions of 
God himself, had been ostentatiously displayed to 
the Roman people in the triumph of Titus. They 
were afterwards deposited in the Temple of Peace ; 
and, at the end of 400 years, the plunder of Jeru- 
salem was transferred from Rome to Carthage by 
the chief of a marauding army, who derived their 
origin from the shores of the Baltic* 

Genseric, although he gained an easy victory over 
the metropolis of the West, was too well acquainted 

* Sidonius Panegyr. Avit. p. 441, &c. Procop. De Bell. Van- 
dal, lib. i. c. 4, &c. Victor Vitens. De Persecut. Vandal, lib. i. c. 8. 



104 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



with the resources which still remained to the em- 
pire to attempt a permanent conquest. He accord- 
ingly returned to Africa loaded with treasure, and 
accompanied by thousands of captives, comprehend- 
ing some eminent individuals of both sexes, whom 
he distributed among his followers. 

The success which had crowned the invasion of 
Italy could hardly fail to induce a repetition ; and 
hence, about seven years later, a large fleet of Moors 
and Vandals approached the coast of Campania, 
where the crews, encountering little resistance, gra- 
tified their avarice and cruelty at the expense of 
the unprotected inhabitants. But, wiiile thus em- 
ployed, they were attacked by the imperial troops, 
who, after great slaughter, chased them to their 
ships, — a check which, though it rendered them 
more cautious in their movements, did not deter 
the leaders from renewing their depredations on the 
least-guarded parts of the extended shore. 

It therefore became necessary for the safety of 
the commonwealth to attack the pirates in their 
own settlements, and if possible to root out that 
armed confederacy, which, despising industry and 
the arts, taught the people to make a trade of war, 
and live on plunder. Marjorian, who had now as- 
cended the throne, possessed talents and spirit equal 
to such an enterprise; but he found not in the Roman 
youth a corresponding patriotism, and was obliged 
to recruit his legions among the barbarians who 
had spread themselves over Germany and along the 
banks of the Danube. Never was the sceptre of 
Genseric in greater hazard than when the emperor 
collected in the Bay of Carthagena a fleet of more 
than 300 large ships, with the usual proportion of 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



105 



transports and smaller vessels, and was prepared to 
throw into his kingdom a host of warriors not less 
savage than those with whom they were about to 
engage. But treason saved the Vandals from a 
sanguinary invasion, and disappointed all the hopes 
of Marjorian. Guided by secret emissaries, the Af- 
rican admiral surprised the flotilla as it lay on the 
Spanish coast ; and, setting it on fire, reduced the 
greater part to ashes and dispersed the remainder.* 

Among the prisoners brought to Carthage after 
the fall of Rome, was Eudoxia, the widow of Va- 
lentinian, whose eldest daughter became the wife 
of Hunneric, the heir of the Vandal monarch. This 
connexion with the imperial family conveyed to 
the aged warrior a claim on Rome, which seemed 
to justify his incessant inroads upon its territory. 
In the spring of each year he equipped a formidable 
squadron in the most convenient ports, and con- 
ducted his designs with so much secrecy, that no 
one on board knew the destination of the ships un- 
til they had been some time at sea. " Leave the 
determination to the winds/' replied the barbarian 
to his pilot, who asked whither he should steer ; 
ce they will conduct us to the guilty coast whose 
inhabitants have provoked the justice of Heaven." 
But on all occasions, Genseric, whose plans were 
regulated on a fixed principle, appeared to regard 
the possession of wealth as the most infallible to- 
ken of the divine displeasure ; for he never failed 
to direct his prows against those devoted shores 
where fertility and commercial riches promised the 
most abundant pillage. 

a. d. 468. At length the fears or resentment of the 

* Idatius, as quoted by Gibbon, c. xxxvi. 



106 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



Eastern Empire gave birth to the resolution of deli- 
vering Italy and the Mediterranean from the grievous 
scourge to which they had been so long subjected 
by the new masters of the Barbary States. The 
armament fitted out by Leo, and which sailed from 
Constantinople to Africa, is described as consisting 
of more than 1100 vessels, having on board about 
100,000 men. Basilicus, to whom the direction of 
the whole was confided, gained at first some advan- 
tages over his wily adversary, which supplied to the 
latter a sufficient apology for proposing a negotiation; 
while the imperial lieutenant, as if he had resolved 
to walk openly into the snare which was spread 
before him, suspended his operations and listened 
to terms. During the truce which ensued, Genseric 
had recourse to his usual expedient ; he charged some 
of his largest ships with combustibles, and sending 
them, amidst the darkness of night, into the crowd- 
ed lines of the enemy, completed their destruction, 
and thereby put an end to the campaign which had 
for its object the extinction of his kingdom. He 
again became undisputed master of the sea, and had 
the satisfaction to terminate his reign without being 
any more disturbed by the Romans either of the 
East or the West.* 

a. d. 555. The weakness of the government in Italy 
was favourable to the growing power of the Vandals, 
who, during the lapse of more than half a century, 
encountered no foe by land or by water to whom 
they were not superior. But the accession of J us- 
tinian to the throne of the whole empire, of which 
the undivided authority had been conveyed to the 
city of Constantine, led to new efforts for the reco- 

* Procop. de Bell. Vandal, lib. i. c. 6. Zonoras, lib. xiv. 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



107 



very of Africa, now so long severed from the im- 
perial dominions. The sceptre of Genseric had al- 
ready passed through his son Hunneric to his grand- 
son Hilderic, who, being of a mild disposition and 
proving unfortunate in war, was dethroned by Ge- 
limer, a chief possessing popular qualities and a 
high military reputation. The emperor, on this oc- 
casion, felt the influence of various motives, among 
which prevailed a feeling of respect for the degraded 
prince and resentment towards his oppressor ; but 
it was not until after the most mature deliberation, 
that, yielding to the calls of honour and policy, he 
announced his determination to expel the usurper, 
and resume the protection of the province.* 

To accomplish this object, so important to his 
own fame as well as to the stability of the empire, 
he made choice of the renowned Belisarius, who had 
gained many laurels in the Persian war, from which 
he was just returned. Nor were the preparations 
commanded by Justinian unworthy of the last con- 
test between Rome and Carthage. Five hundred 
transports, navigated by 20,000 sailors, carried to 
the opposite shore of the Mediterranean an army 
still more formidable for its experience and discipline 
than for its numbers. Landing at the most convenient 
point, though at a considerable distance from the 
capital, the general impressed on the minds of his 
soldiers the necessity of cultivating the friendship of 
the natives, who, he assured them, were eager to 
throw off the yoke of the barbarians, and to submit 
to the milder dominion of the Roman emperor. The 
conduct of the people soon proved the justness of 
his anticipations. So far from concealing their per- 

* Procop. lib. i. c. 9. 



108 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



sons or their goods,, they made haste to supply with 
provisions the camp of the invaders ; and one town 
after another opened its gates to the imperial com- 
mander, who accepted their allegiance in the name 
of his august sovereign. 

Belisarius, instructed hy the misfortunes of those 
who, in the days of Genseric, had attempted the re- 
duction of Africa, moved cautiously along the coast 
accompanied by his fleet, from which he could at 
all times receive assistance or supplies. The ap- 
proach of the legions to Carthage filled the mind of 
the usurper with anxiety and fear ; having sent 
part of his army for the reduction of Sardinia, while 
he had neglected to restore those fortifications by 
which the capital was at one time defended, and 
which, on the present occasion, would have enabled 
him to await with safety the concentration of his 
scattered forces. His military establishment was 
hardly inferior to that of the emperor ; as he could 
command the services of more than 150,000 fighting- 
men. But he knew that the deposed king had still 
many friends, who, he could not conceal from him- 
self, were more likely to augment the ranks of the 
invader than to oppose his progress. He therefore 
at first had recourse to the usual expedients for pro- 
tracting the interval which might precede the main 
attack of his enemy: nor was it until he found 
that B disarms could not be diverted from his ob- 
ject by treaty or conference, that he formed his 
plan for a general engagement. Dividing his troops 
into three portions, he intrusted to his brother a 
large body of foot, and to his nephew 2000 cavalry, 
placing himself at the head of his guards, with whom 
he hoped to make an impression on the centre of his 



THE BARBAE- Y STATES. 



109 



antagonists. But his skill and valour proved un- 
equal to the chances of war and the discipline of the 
Romans. Before he was aware that the battle had 
begun, the best of his soldiers were either slain or 
compelled to save their lives by a tumultuous flight. 
He made a vigorous elfort to retrieve the fortune of 
the day, before he would consent to turn his horse's 
head towards the Desert, the only stronghold to 
which he could retire.* 

Steady to his purpose of revenge, he had pre- 
viously given orders to take away the life of Hilde- 
ric, that the conquerors might not have the satisfac- 
tion of replacing him on the throne, — a disappoint- 
ment which was amply compensated to Justinian, 
by finding the only obstacle removed that could 
have prevented him from assuming in his own per- 
son the sovereignty of the African province. The 
surrender of Carthage soon followed this decisive 
victory : the citizens, eager to receive the imperial 
deputy as the deliverer of their country, instantly 
opened their gates to his soldiers, and their har- 
bour to his ships ; and his entrance into the city, 
which had lately trembled under the despotic rule 
of Gelimer, was celebrated by a splendid festival. 
So gentle was the transition from the domination of 
the Vandals to the legitimate sway of the emperor, 
that the trade of the port was not interrupted ; the 
shops continued open and busy ; and the military, at 
the close of day, retired to their quarters, as if they 
had been the wonted garrison. 

But the usurper, although beaten, was not yet 
entirely subdued ; for such was the nature of the 
late conflict, that his army was rather scattered than 

* Procop. lib. i. c. 21. 



110 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



cut off; and as his followers had now no surer re- 
source than war, they were not unwilling to second 
his endeavours for the recovery of his crown. The 
Moors, sympathizing in his misfortunes, or inflamed 
with the love of pillage, supplied him with some 
hardy recruits. The Arians, who foresaw in the 
success of Justinian the rejection of their creed by 
the African churches, flocked to his standard ; and 
his brother Zano, who had reduced Sardinia, brought 
with him several thousand veterans, whose former 
triumphs had taught them to despise the degene- 
rate Romans. Belisarius, who did not fail to watch 
the progress of events, was perfectly aware that the 
combined forces of the barbarian chiefs greatly out- 
numbered his own; and, consequently, that, in 
whatever conflict might ensue, his sole reliance must 
be placed in the superiority of his arms and disci- 
pline. Under this impression he encouraged the 
enemy to make an attack in the night ; trusting that 
the darkness would at once conceal the disparity of 
the contending bodies, and aid his plan for throw- 
ing the Vandals into confusion. The result an- 
swered his expectation, though the victory was not 
purchased without great loss; the conquerors of 
Sardinia, under their brave leader, having repeat- 
edly driven back the Roman cavalry, and fought 
hand to hand w T ith the chosen guards of the impe- 
rial commander. Zano was found among the slain ; 
butGelimer once more departed from the field, where 
he left behind him all his power, and much of his 
former reputation. He outstripped the speed of 
some light troops, who were sent in pursuit of him ; 
upon which, Belisarius, knowing that it would be 
vain to follow his rapid retreat into the fastnesses of 



THE BARBARY STATES. Ill 

Mauritania, desisted from the attempt, and esta- 
blished his winter-quarters at Carthage.* 

The expectations of the Roman general were not 
disappointed in regard to the effect of his mild policy 
on the temper of the Vandals. Finding themselves 
deserted by a leader who had seduced their affec- 
tions from their lawful prince, they readily submit- 
ted to the government of a sovereign who appeared 
to advocate the claims of justice and humanity. All 
the cities comprehended in the modern states of 
Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers, acknowledged the au- 
thority of Justinian ; while the power of his arms 
gradually extended as far as the town of Septem, 
the Ceuta of European geographers. Africa was 
accordingly divided into seven provinces, which 
were placed under the inspection of a Pretorian Pre- 
fect, who, in his civil capacity, enjoyed the assist- 
ance of a corresponding number of consulars and 
presidents, whose duty it was to administer the 
laws of the empire. 

a. D.534. The conquest of Barbary was soon complet- 
ed by the surrender of Gelimer, who had taken refuge 
in a fortress situated on one of the Atlas mountains. 
After enduring a siege accompanied with more than 
the usual privations, the usurper yielded his person, 
on the conditions of having his life spared and a pro- 
vision secured ; though he was afterwards compel- 
led to grace the triumph of Belisarius, when this 
hero entered Constantinople after the manner of 
Roman conquerors. But in other respects, the 
Vandal king had no reason to accuse the generosity 
of the emperor ; for he was allowed an ample estate 
in a pleasant district of Asia Minor, where he 
* Gibbon, chap. xliv. 



112 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



spent the remainder of his days in comparative 
affluence and undisturbed repose. 

From this period the descendants of the warlike 
barbarians, who followed the standard of Genseric 
from Spain into Africa, cease to occupy the atten- 
tion of history as a separate people. Justinian, act- 
ing upon the usual maxim of a victorious state, in- 
duced the boldest and more generous of the Vandal 
youth to accept service in his army ; and it is re- 
lated, that five squadrons of horsemen, drawn from 
their best families, distinguished themselves by their 
bravery in the Persian wars. The lower classes, 
again, who soon found their opinions and habits 
exposed to another change of religion and govern- 
ment, mixed imperceptibly with the dominant po- 
pulation ; and hence, except in the casual occur- 
rence of fair complexions and yellow hair, which 
have met the eyes of recent travellers on the borders 
of the Desert, no evidence now remains of the me- 
morable conquest effected by German tribes on the 
shores of Barbary. 

The peace, which might have been expected to 
follow so many victories and the extinction of a 
warlike people, was soon interrupted by the restless 
spirit of the Moors, who thought themselves enti- 
tled to aspire to the eminence from which the sub- 
jects of Gelimer had been compelled to descend. 
During the decline of the Vandalic power, these 
migratory herdsmen had extended their range from 
the pastures of Mauritania to the towns on the sea- 
coast, and, in fact, had taken possession of the 
greater part of that fine district which stretches 
from the ocean to the neighbourhood of Algiers. 
Belisarius, by gratifying the vanity of their chiefs, 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



113 



had, as long as his arms were employed against the 
Vandals, secured their neutrality ; but no sooner 
did he set sail for Constantinople, than they mas- 
tered their bands and proceeded towards the capital. 
Solomon, to whom the command of the province 
was confided, made haste to meet them in the field ; 
and, although his troops sustained a check when 
engaged with the outposts of the enemy, he renew- 
ed the attack with so much coolness and resolution, 
that he cut in pieces about 60,000 of their number. 
Pursuing his advantage, he followed them into the 
heart of their country, where, by reducing one of 
their strongest posts, he compelled them to sue for 
terms of accommodation. 

a. d. 558. But Africa, meanwhile, was rapidly sink- 
ing back into the state of barbarism from which it 
had been raised by the Phoenicians and Romans ; 
and every step of intestine discord was marked by 
the triumph of savage man over the institutions of 
civilized society. The Moors, who had succeeded 
to the quarrels of the Vandals not less surely than 
to their lands, showed themselves still more impa- 
tient of the restraint imposed by law, and the op- 
pressions which seemed to attend the collection of 
the revenue. An act of treachery, perpetrated by 
one of the nephews of Solomon, inflamed their re- 
sentment, and once more drove them to open rebel- 
lion. A battle ensued, in which the prefect was 
slain, after losing the greater part of his army; 
though the victory, achieved by the insurgents at 
an immense waste of life, failed to establish their 
power. Many of their bravest leaders had perished 
in the conflict, while the arrival of fresh troops and 
skilful commanders soon secured for the imperial 

G 



114 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



cause the ascendency which for a moment appeared 
to be in danger. But, it has been truly observed, 
the successes and defeats of Justinian were alike 
pernicious to mankind ; and such was now the de- 
solation of the African provinces, that in many parts 
a stranger might wander whole days without meet- 
ing the face either of a friend or an enemy. The 
nation of the Vandals, as has just been noticed, had 
already disappeared, though they once amounted to 
600,000 individuals, and could boast of being able 
to equip for the field 150,000 warriors. The num- 
ber of Moorish families extirpated during their se- 
veral insurrections was still greater ; while, on the 
other hand, the Romans with their allies sustained, 
from the ravages of the climate and the fury of the 
barbarians, an extent of loss not much inferior to 
that which their antagonists had to bewail. When 
Procopius, the annalist of these destructive wars, 
first landed, he admired the populousness of the cities 
and country, successfully employed in the labours 
of commerce and agriculture. In less than twenty 
years, that busy scene was converted into a silent 
solitude ; the more wealthy escaped to Sicily and 
Constantinople ; and it has been confidently affirm- 
ed, that 5,000,000 of the natives were consumed 
by disease, famine, and the sword, during the reign 
of the Emperor Justinian.* 

a.d.647. A state of inactivity, the effect of weak- 
ness and disunion, had continued nearly 100 years, 
when the mixed inhabitants of Xorthern Africa were 
roused, as if from a slumber, by the Saracens under 
Abdallah, the lieutenant of the Caliph Othman. At 

* Procop. Anec. c. 18, quoted by Gibbon, chap, xliii. See also 
Procop. De Bell. Vandal, lib. ii. c. 19, &c 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



115 



the head of 40,000 armed men, he advanced from 
Egypt into the wilderness of Barca, — a stranger to 
all parts of the vast continent which stretched out 
before him, or only knowing that there were exten- 
sive lands to conquer and numerous tribes to subdue. 
After a fatiguing march, the privations of which were 
somewhat lightened by the use of the camel, he 
found himself in presence of an enemy near the 
walls of Tripoli. Preferring the chance of a battle 
to the delay of a siege, the disciple of Mohammed 
marshalled his troops and awaited the attack of the 
Greeks, who were led by the Prefect Gregory. A 
conflict of long duration and various fortune termi- 
nated in a decisive victory in favour of the invaders. 
The Grecian general fell in the action ; his daugh- 
ter, who fought by his side, was taken prisoner ; and 
a large proportion of the wealth which still remain- 
ed in the wasted province rewarded the valour of 
the Arabians. But such a victory was not gained 
without a heavy loss, which, being still farther ag- 
gravated by the inroads of a pestilential disease, 
Abdallah found it expedient to relinquish his con- 
quests, and to fall back upon the Nile.* 

a. d. 680. The dissensions which distracted the ca- 
liphate secured for the Barbary States a period of 
doubtful repose ; during which, it should seem, the 
provincials were doomed to sulfer as severely from 
the legal exactions of their European governors as 
from the forced tribute of the Mohammedan princes. 
Akbah, a brave commander, was accordingly sent by 
the ruler of the Moslem to reclaim the ground which 
their arms had gained ; and, in this instance, their 



* Vie de Mahomet par Gagnier, tome iii. p. 45. Leo African, 
p. 585. Edit. 1632. 



116 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



progress was facilitated by the good wishes of the 
people, whose afflictions had rendered them indiffer- 
ent to national fame, religion, and lineage. Meet- 
ing with little resistance, he marched through Mau- 
ritania, driving the natives before him, till at length 
he reached the borders of the Desert and the shores 
of the Atlantic. He made himself master also of 
the chief towns on the ocean, as well as the coast of 
the Mediterranean, and had, as he imagined, com- 
pleted the subjection of the whole country, when 
intelligence was conveyed to him that the inhabit- 
ants of the eastern districts were in a state of open 
revolt. He hastened to quell the insurrection, but 
lost his life and army in the attempt. His succes- 
sor, Zobeir, shared the same fate : for, after earning 
many laurels as a commander of the faithful, he 
was overthrown by a powerful armament sent from 
the Grecian capital." 

The invasion of Akbah was rendered memorable 
by the foundation of Kairwan or Cairoan, a town of 
which the remains are still found about fifty miles 
south from Tunis, and twelve from the sea. His ob- 
ject was to give birth to an Arabian colony in a re- 
tired part of the province, where his countrymen 
might find a refuge against the accidents of war, and 
in which they might place their families and booty 
during the labours of a campaign. A wall of brick 
surrounded the rising capital, which was afterwards 
decorated with a governor's palace, a mosque sup- 



* Ockley, History of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. 129. Morgan has 
collected numerous u testimonies" of the pride, insolence, and 
avarice of the Romans, and ascribes their loss of Africa to their in- 
supportable tyranny, p. 162. See also Salvianus de Providentia, 
lib. iv., and Procopius, De Bello Gothico, lib. iii. 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



117 



ported by 500 columns of granite and marble, and 
several schools of learning.* 

a. d. 698. A few years before the close of the seventh 
century, Hassan, the viceroy of Egypt, was ordered 
to attack Carthage, and subject the whole of the sur- 
rounding country to the religion and authority of the 
caliph. But he had hardly reduced the metropolis 
of Africa, when a large force arrived from Constan- 
tinople, which compelled him to retire to Kairwan, 
the town whose origin has just been described. The 
issue of a battle, however, again put the city of Dido 
into his hands ; and a second engagement, which 
took place near Utica, proved so disastrous to the 
Greeks, that they fled to their ships, and finally re- 
linquished the country. 

a. d. 699. The Moors having witnessed, not without 
secret satisfaction, the discomfiture and retreat of 
those haughty conquerors, resolved to secure for 
their own use the territory which their forefathers 
had allowed to be wrested from their hands. This 
people, who, when the Roman empire possessed 
its early power, were feeble or unresisting, had gra- 
dually become formidable after the seat of govern- 
ment was transferred to the East ; and now, when 
the imperial troops were expelled in disgrace, they 
thought themselves sufficiently strong to oppose with 
success the victorious bands of the Saracens. As- 
sembling their tribes under the standard of Cahina, 
whom they reverenced at once as a prophetess and 

* Leo African, p. 575. " Cairaoan sive alio nomine Caroen no- 
bilissimum oppidum conditorem habuit Hucba — a Mediterraneo 
mare xxxvi. a Tuneto verum centum fere abest milliaribus, neque 
aliam ob causam conditum fuisse dicunt quam ut in eo exercitus 
cum omni praeda Barbaris atque Numidis adempta, secure se con- 
ten ere possent." 



113 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



a sovereign, they attacked the veterans of Hassan 
with such enthusiastic fury, that he was unable to 
keep his ground, and at length had the mortifica- 
tion of seeing his old soldiers turn their backs be- 
fore a horde of barbarians conducted by a woman. 
He withdrew into Egypt, where he waited for a 
reinforcement, with which he still hoped to recover 
Africa, and to annex it permanently to the domi- 
nions of the caliph. Nor was it long before the ex- 
travagance of the Moorish queen enabled him to 
realize his expectations. The Moslem returned ; 
gained an easy victory over her disorderly and fa- 
natical bands ; and, as she herself fell in the first 
battle, her followers made but a slight effort to 
maintain the cause of independence, the love of 
which had carried them into the field. 

From this epoch, Northern Africa may be regard- 
ed as a section of the great Mohammedan empire. 
The successor of Hassan, who trusted not less to 
the Koran than the sword, laboured so successfully 
to make proselytes to the creed of Islamism, that he 
had the satisfaction to see the people gradually re- 
conciled to the divine authority of the prophet and 
to the justice of his arms. Thirty thousand of the 
young men were enlisted in his service ; and the 
similarity of habits between the Arab in the Desert 
and the Moor in the Sahara soon obliterated what- 
ever distinction each might have been disposed to 
maintain. If the Berbers, according to their own 
tradition, originally issued from that eastern penin- 
sula which is washed by the Red Sea and the Per- 
sian Gulf, their relationship to their conquerors 
could not be called in question ; and, at all events, 
at the present day, every shade of difference, whe- 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



119 




Moorish Artisan and Female. 



ther in blood or religion, has entirely disappeared, 
except such as may have been perpetuated by the 
pursuits of active life. The shepherds, who still 
follow the customs of their ancestors, display pecu- 
liarities which do not belong to the artisans who 
seek a subsistence in large towns ; but there is not 
either in their complexion or features any charac- 
teristic which may not be confidently ascribed to 
their occupation and manners. The foregoing plate 
presents a faithful likeness of a Moor in the class of 
society to which he belongs, accompanied by a fe- 
male in the costume of her rank and sex. 

During the ascendency of the Mussulmans in 
Africa, the capital of their dominions was Kairwan, 



120 MODERN HISTORY OF 

the city built by Akbah, where their viceroys usu- 
ally had their abode, and whence they extended 
their cares to the government of the western pro- 
vinces and even of Spain. At this period the Arabs 
occupied the principal towns along the coast, both 
because they might be called upon to defend them 
against the fleets of Constantinople and the corsairs 
of the opposite shores, and also because it was not 
yet thought expedient to dispute with the Moors 
the possession of those lands between the sea and 
the Desert which had descended to them as an in- 
heritance, or fallen into their hands as a conquest. 
Even these precautions did not prevent a succession 
of bloody wars waged by the old inhabitants against 
the regular troops, whose duty it was to repress 
their ravages as they issued from the defiles of Mount 
Atlas. 

a.d. 8oo. About the 184th year of the Hegira, the 
celebrated prince, Haroun al Raschid, the fifth of 
the Abbassides, intrusted to Ibrahim ibn Aglab 
the government of Africa. This ambitious captain 
soon threw off his allegiance, assumed the supreme 
power in his own person, and laid the foundation 
of a dynasty, the Beni Aglab or Aglabites, which 
continued during eleven successions and more than 
100 years. Rostam, who was sent to restore the 
authority of the caliph, so far forgot his duty as to 
follow the example of his predecessor, and seized 
certain provinces, which he converted into an inde- 
pendent kingdom. Nearly at the same epoch, the 
remainder of the Barbary States, including the 
whole of the Tingitana, became the prey of Edris, 
a descendant of Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed ; 
and, in this way, no part of Africa, with the single 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



121 



exception of Egypt, acknowledged fealty to the suc- 
cessor of the prophet. Edris is venerated by the 
natives of Mauritania as the founder of Fez, — of 
that part of it, at least, which is now denominated 
the Old City. 

a. d. 909. The rise of the Fatimites, in the person 
of Al Mahadi, suppressed for a time all the other 
dynasties of the West. He assumed the title of 
caliph, and governed Africa with a rod of iron ; 
making also several attempts to add Egypt to his 
dominions, in one of which he reduced the city of 
Alexandria. His grandson Moez, who succeeded 
in conquering the rich valley of the Nile, removed 
the seat of his government to Cairo, where, claim- 
ing the honours due to the successor of their great 
apostle, and commanding his name to be introduced 
into the public prayers of the mosque, he inflicted 
upon his church the scandal of a schism. 

When he left Barbary, he consigned the charge 
of the provincials to Yussuf ibn Zeiri, who, assert- 
ing the independence of that fine country, gave rise 
to a dynasty of princes, who figure in the Spanish 
histories under the corrupt appellation of Zegris. 
This family, there is reason to believe, enjoyed royal 
power in the territory of Algiers down to the year 
1148, when the last sovereign of their race was 
killed in battle by the forces of Roger, king of Sicily 
and Calabria, who, in their progress to the Holy 
Land, were induced by a feeling of revenge to de- 
bark on the African coast. 

When Moez was on the throne of Egypt, he gave 
permission to an immense multitude of Arabs to pass 
through that country on their way to Barbary; 
whither they carried with them a great number of 



122 



MODERN HISTORY OF 



camels,, the first which were naturalized in the north- 
ern parts of the continent. It is said that no fewer 
than 50,000 warriors accompanied this emigration, 
who, as they went to seek new lands for their 
flocks and herds, produced a deep impression on the 
whole province, and effected a material change in 
the distribution of property. Leo Africanus relates 
that they took Tripoli, and put most of the inhabit- 
ants to the sword ; destroyed Capes, in the neigh- 
bourhood of Tunis ; and next attacked Kairwan, 
the metropolis of the Saracenic princes, in the sack 
of which they were guilty of the greatest inhumani- 
ties. They soon overran all the plain country, and 
penetrated into many parts of the Southern Numi- 
dia ; for, like their countrymen at home, being ge- 
nerally mounted on fleet horses, they evaded the 
pursuit of the Moors, who were more accustomed 
to fight on foot. It is from these families of Arabs, 
whom Moez encouraged to pass the Red Sea, that 
the wandering tribes have sprung, who still employ 
the camel in the African deserts, and follow the 
nomade life at once as shepherds and merchants. 
The Saracens who followed the standard of Akbah 
count themselves more noble than the hordes just 
described, not only because these last remained 
longer ignorant of the orthodox faith, but also be- 
cause they have stained the purity of their descent 
by intermixture with foreign nations. 

a. d. ii48. It would be equally tedious and fruitless 
to trace the history of the several dynasties which, du- 
ring the weakness of the caliphate, rose and disappear- 
ed in Barbary. The Almohades and Almoravides lay 
claim, perhaps, to some attention, from their inter- 
course with the Moslem princes,, who at that period 



THE BARBARY STATES. 



123 



occupied a large portion of the Spanish peninsula. 
The latter, who revived for a time the spirit of the 
Mohammedan creed, found their efforts crowned 
with great success, and, in fact, extended their con- 
quests into the south and west, which they were 
also able to retain during the lapse of nearly a 
hundred years. 

But the events which follow upon the commence- 
ment of the thirteenth century will enter with bet- 
ter effect into the narrative which respects the Bar- 
bary States, taken separately; the condition, indeed, 
in which they naturally present themselves to the 
view of the reader after the fall of the dynasty 
founded by Abu Beker, and the suspension of the 
general government under the descendants of the 
prophet. To this part of our undertaking we shall 
return, so soon as we have taken a brief review of 
the religion and literature of Northern Africa, from 
the dawn of history down to the date of its con- 
quest by the Arabian Mussulmans. 



124 



v 

RELIGION AND LITERATURE 



CHAPTER IV. 

Religion and Literature of the Barbary States. 

The Religion and Literature vary with the successive Inhabitants 
— Superstition of the Natives — Human Sacrifices continued by 
the Carthaginians — Worship of Melcarth, Astarte, and Baal — 
No sacred Caste or Priesthood — Religious Rites performed by 
the Chief Magistrates — Introduction of Christianity — Accom- 
plished by the Arms of Rome — Different Opinions as to the Date 
of Conversion and the Persons by whom it was effected — State- 
ments of Salvian and Augustin — Learning and Eloquence of the 
African Clergy, Tertullian, Cyprian, Lactantius, and the Bishop 
of Hippo — Works of these Divines — Death of Cyprian and Au- 
gustin — The Writings of the Latin Fathers chiefly valuable as a 
Record of Usages, Opinions, and Discipline — Church revived 
under Justinian — Invasion of the Moslem — Christian Congrega- 
tions permitted to exist under the Mohammedan Rulers — Condi- 
tions of Toleration — Africans gradually yield to the Seducements 
of the new Faith, and the Gospel is superseded by the Koran — 
Barbary States the only Country where Christianity has been to- 
tally extinguished — Attempt made to restore it by the Patriarch 
of Alexandria — Five Bishops sent toKairwan — Public Profession 
of the Gospel cannot be traced after the Twelfth Century — A 
few Christians found at Tunis in 1533 — Learning of the Arabs — 
Great Exertions of Almamoun — He collects Greek Authors, and 
causes them to be translated — He is imitated by the Fatimites 
of Africa — Science cultivated by the Mohammedans Five Hun- 
dred Years — Their chief Studies were Mathematics, Astronomy, 
and Chemistry— Their Progress in Chemical Researches — Ne- 
glect Literature, properly so called — Prospect of Improvement 
from the Settlement of European Colonies in Northern Africa. 

The religion and learning of the Barbary States 
will be found to vary with the several races of men 
by whom they have been successively occupied since 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



125 



the era of the Phoenicians ; the original inhabitants 
having left no record of their opinions, either in re- 
gard to the material world, or to those more lofty 
objects which interest the belief and the imagina- 
tion. The ancient Getulians, it is probable, like 
their neighbours of the Desert, had no literature ; 
while, as to faith and worship, they may be sup- 
posed to have shared in that universal superstition 
which connects the veneration of mankind with those 
physical manifestations which accompany the peri- 
odical production and decay of all organized forms. 
The energies of nature, whether displayed in the 
firmament or in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, 
associate themselves in the rude mind with certain 
emblems which are conceived to have some affinity 
to the immaterial principle whence the source of all 
events has its rise ; and this association, however 
arbitrary or remote, confers upon the meanest things 
a relative sanctity, by which they seem to become, 
not only worthy of respect, but also of a species of 
religious confidence and trust. 

Hence the origin of fetichism ; the notion that a 
piece of wood or a polished stone may be the seat of 
an invisible power, and which may be described as a 
species of Pantheism, common to every climate at a 
particular stage of civilisation. Every object en- 
dowed with qualities, fitted either to bestow a sig- 
nal benefit or to inflict a serious injury, was re- 
garded as the abode or the instrument of a mysteri- 
ous agent, whose divinity might be propitiated by 
attention or offended by neglect. Taken by itself, 
this simple belief may be viewed as nothing more 
than the parent of ridiculous usages and absurd ap- 
prehensions, being a stranger to those bloody rites 



126 RELIGION AND LITERATURE 

which have been sometimes engrafted upon it by 
the priests of a darker superstition,, who demand for 
their gods the most horrible sacrifices. 

The Tynan colonists who followed their exiled 
princess to Carthage had been accustomed in their 
own land to witness the frightful spectacle of hu- 
man bodies laid upon the altars of their demons. 
The worship of Moloch, which prevailed among all 
the Aramaean nations, was not unknown on the east- 
ern shores of the Mediterranean ; and, in all parts 
of the world, the same barbarous immolations were 
practised by the votaries of this idol, who condemned 
to the fire or the knife the noblest children in their 
land. In times of peace and tranquillity, the off- 
spring of slaves were substituted for the heirs of 
more distinguished families ; but when pestilence 
or an unsuccessful war afflicted the state, victims 
were selected from the highest ranks, and consigned 
to a cruel death. Diodorus relates that the Cartha- 
ginians, finding themselves oppressed by the arms 
of Agathocles, turned their thoughts to the cares of 
religion ; and, suspecting that undue substitutions 
had taken place in the choice of human sacrifices, 
ordered 200 children of exalted birth to be of- 
fered up without delay. Nor was this held enough 
to appease the anger of the god, and to retrieve the 
fortunes of the republic ; on which account, 300 
individuals, whose consciences accused them of ne- 
glect in their pious duties, presented their bodies 
also, in order to make a fuller atonement for the 
sins of the people. On such occasions, the nearest 
relative was not allowed to shed a tear, lest the of- 
fering should be thereby rendered unacceptable.* 
* Diodor. Sicul. lib. xs. c 14. 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



127 



The subjects of Dido appear to have also wor- 
shipped a tutelar deity, denominated Melcarth, — 
King of the City, — who exhibited some of the fea- 
tures of the Baal, the sun-god, whom the Greeks 
and Romans identified with their Hercules; and 
there is no doubt that Astaroth, or Astarte, the em- 
blem of increase, was adored by the Carthaginians 
with ceremonies corresponding to her attributes.* 
But what objects or powers of nature were origi- 
nally represented by these beings, or rather appella- 
tions, it is not of any consequence to determine. 
It is clear, at the same time, that this religion, if 
such it might be called, was patronised by the com- 
monwealth, and, in fact, became a part of the go- 
vernment. There was, however, no distinct order 
of priests or sacred caste in Carthage, as there was 
in Egypt; nor are there any usages whence we 
might conclude that sacerdotal functions were he- 
reditary in certain families, who, on that account, 
were possessed of dignity and emolument. But it 
is not less certain that the duties of the priesthood 
were discharged by the highest persons in the country, 
and had outward marks of honour attached to them ; 
so that some of the more important of these ap- 
pointments were deemed not unworthy the sons of 
their kings. Indeed, the weightiest affairs of the 
nation were so intimately connected with religious 
ceremonies, that it seems probable the magistrates 
were also invested with the chief of the sacerdotal of- 
fices, and directed the zeal of the people on all great 
occasions. The generals, too, were authorized to 
offer sacrifice even during the time of battle ; while 

* I should prefer the derivation of Melcarth n*)N *|btt, King of 
the Way, meaning the zodiac, or solar path. 



128 



RELIGION AND LITERATURE 



prophets accompanied the armies, without whose 
advice the most popular commander was not free to 
act. All the great enterprises, moreover, of their 
forces, by land and sea, their treaties with foreign 
princes, and their accessions of territory, were re- 
corded in the principal temples. Again, no distant 
settlement was ever planted without the addition of 
a sanctuary, to connect the colony with the parent 
state, and whence missions were occasionally sent, 
with the view of perpetuating the connexion be- 
tween the sacred metropolis and her affiliated de- 
pendencies.* 

Among the native authors none stand so high in 
point of literary reputation as Juba, the king of 
Mauritania, who appears to have inherited a large 
share of the knowledge possessed by the Carthagi- 
nians. Availing himself of the annals left by that 
enterprising people, he is understood to have written 
at some length on the civil and natural history of 
Africa ; but, as his works are entirely lost, we can 
only judge of their merits from certain references 
made to them by Pliny, in his chapter on the geo- 
graphy of the Barbary States. 

This learned Roman, on the authority of the Mau- 
ritanian prince, attempts to delineate the courses of 
the Xiger and the Nile, — an undertaking which, 
though unattended with any degree of success, serves 
at least to mark the limits of ancient inquiry with 
regard to these celebrated rivers. The naturalist, 
it is manifest, confounded some lakes and streams 
on the western coast of Morocco, not only with the 
sources of the Joliba, but even with one of the 



* Heeren, vol. i. p. 142. 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



129 



main branches of the Egyptian Nile ; thereby lead- 
ing his readers to suppose that the army of Corne- 
lius Balbus, after crossing the Great Desert, had 
actually visited the banks of the mysterious current 
whose outlet into the Atlantic has been recently dis- 
covered. 

Nor was the curiosity of Juba confined to the 
African continent. In his times, some conjectures 
had reached the ears of the learned respecting those 
islands which lie scattered in the great ocean at va- 
rious distances from the land ; and in which were 
imagined to be assembled all the beauty and de- 
lights incident to their happy climate, and all the 
felicities that ever fall to the lot of man upon earth. 
Of these fortunate isles he had ascertained the names 
of six, which, though they do not precisely coincide 
with those recorded by Ptolemy and Sebosus, be- 
long unquestionably to the same group/" 

Long prior to the days of this monarch, literature 
flourished under the most favourable auspices on 
the eastern section of the Barbary coast. As the 
Cyrenaica was originally occupied by colonies from 
Greece, it is hardly necessary to remark, that its 
towns were distinguished as seats of learning and phi- 
losophy. That favoured district gave birth to Aris- 
tippus, the founder of a well-known sect, to Calli- 
machus, Eratosthenes, Anniceris, Carneades, Syne- 
sius, and several other writers, who hold a prominent 
place in the annals of wisdom, genius, and industry. 

The doctrines of the Cyrenaic school, originating 
with Aristippus, were not a little singular, particu- 

* Plinii Histor. Natural, lib. v. p. 66. Juba Ptolemaei pater, 
qui primus utrique Mauritania^ imperavit, studiorum claritate me- 
morabilior etiamque regno. 

H 



130 RELIGION AND LITERATURE 



larly when carried to the extent to which they were 
pushed by Carneades. They so far resembled the 
tenets of Epicurus as to identify virtue with hap- 
piness ; proceeding on the ground that no action or 
sentiment can be esteemed good which does not 
conduce to the gratification, or at least to the well- 
being of mankind. The disciple of Aristippus adopt- 
ed these notions in their fullest import ; and intro- 
duced, moreover, those interminable speculations 
which respect the basis of human belief on ques- 
tions of ethics, and the foundations of knowledge 
when applied even to physical science. Like Pyr- 
rho, he denied that the perception of external things 
is real or immediate ; and, of course, that outward 
objects have any other existence, or rather can be 
proved to have any other existence, than what they 
borrow from the mind of him who contemplates 
them. Hence he was led to teach, that it is the 
part of a truly wise man to persist in doubt, and to 
secure for himself an entire suspension of the deter- 
mining faculties. But, as these opinions belong to 
the theories of the Grecian schools, rather than to 
the native genius of Africa, it will be held sufficient 
to have thus briefly alluded to them. 

The introduction of the Gospel effected a great 
and most beneficial change in the habits of the peo- 
ple as well as in the pursuits of the higher orders. 
Rome, by her arms, had opened a path for the 
Christian missionaries into all the northern shores 
of Africa, from the mouth of the Nile to the vicinity 
of Algiers ; and the blessings of the new faith were 
accordingly enjoyed in most of the principal cities 
of that province, before they could make their way 
across the Alps into Gaul and Germany. This happy 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



131 



result was facilitated by the intercourse which the 
Jews maintained between Syria and Asia Minor, 
on the one hand, and the thriving towns of the 
Pentapolis and the Carthaginian states, on the other, 
— a fact which is finely illustrated by a reference in 
the Book of Acts, where, among the strangers at 
Jerusalem who witnessed the triumph of Chris- 
tianity over the prejudices of education, are men- 
tioned " dwellers in Egypt, and in the parts of Li* 
bya about Cyrene." In truth, numbers of Hebrews 
appear to have settled in the Cyrenaica long prior 
to the reign of Augustus. As a proof of this, besides 
the fact already mentioned, we find that some of 
them took part with their Alexandrian brethren in 
disputing against the first martyr, St Stephen; 
while converted Jews of Cyprus and Cyrene, fleeing 
from the persecution raised by the adherents of the 
Mosaical Law, were the first preachers of the new 
faith to the Grecians of Antioch. It has, indeed, 
been remarked, that the inhabitants of this part of 
the empire derived their knowledge of the true re- 
ligion from the same source which had diffused 
among them the language, the sentiments, and the 
manners of Italy. In these important circumstances, 
Africa was indeed gradually fashioned to the imita- 
tion of the capital ; and, in respect to the reception 
of the Gospel, it displayed much more ardour than 
the districts which stretch along the Rhine, though 
the latter were benefited by a more frequent inter- 
course. The Christians in Barbary soon formed one 
of the principal sections of the primitive Church ; 
while the practice of appointing bishops to the most 
inconsiderable towns, contributed to increase the 
importance of their religious societies. 



132 RELIGION AND LITERATURE 

There prevails among ecclesiastical historians no 
small discrepancy of opinion as to the precise period 
at which our religion was introduced into Africa, — 
a difference which may perhaps be explained by 
suggesting that what was true with respect to one 
part of the coast might not be strictly applicable 
to the whole. Salvian, on the one hand, maintains 
that the Church of Carthage was actually founded 
by the Apostles themselves; while Petilianus, on 
the other, asserts that the Africans were the last 
people in the empire to receive the truth. Doro- 
theus and Nicephorus relate that Simon Zelotes 
preached the faith in Mauritania, where he also 
enjoyed the assistance of St Peter in these pious 
labours ; adding, that Epoenetus, one of the Seventy, 
was about the same time appointed Bishop of Car- 
thage. But Augustin, a much better authority, 
positively declares that his countrymen received 
the saving doctrines from the Romans, who sent mis- 
sionaries across the Mediterranean to confer upon 
their colonists the two great blessings of a sound 
belief and a taste for learning. Whatever doubts 
there may be as to the period when the glad tidings 
were first conveyed to the Barbary shores, there can 
be none with regard to their rapid and extensive 
promulgation, wherever the legions pitched their 
camp or could maintain the authority of law. 
Were we to estimate the number of Christians by 
that of the highest order of clergy, we should, per- 
haps, greatly exceed the real amount ; and yet there 
appears good reason to conclude that a large portion 
of the inhabitants, before the middle of the fourth 
century, had ranged themselves under the banners 
of the Cross. Even after the slaughter perpetrated 



OF THE BARBAE. Y STATES. 



133 



by the Vandals, the bishop of the capital, whose 
name was Reparatus, presided in a council in which 
were assembled no fewer than 217 prelates. Per- 
secution had not materially thinned their numbers ; 
for, to use the phrase of an eloquent author, the 
more they were cut down, the more abundantly did 
they spring up.* 

The African province was celebrated for the great 
learning and eloquence of its divines, long before 
Christianity became the established religion of 
Rome. The names of Tertullian, Cyprian, Lac- 
tan tins, and Augustin, still reflect honour upon her 
schools ; and there are others less orthodox in their 
opinions, whose memories will be preserved in con- 
nexion with certain theological speculations which 
owe to them either a beginning or a marked degree 
of countenance. The first of the divines now men- 
tioned, after studying law, became a presbyter at Car- 
thage, and was highly esteemed as a writer of great 
genius, as well as a complete master of the Latin 
tongue. His piety, though ardent, did not escape the 
austerity and moroseness which began to cloud the 
age to which he belonged ; nor did his zeal protect 
him from the inroads of those heresies which had 
already disturbed the belief of the East and the West, 
especially the absurd notions of Montanus. 

Cyprian, the renowned bishop of Carthage, had, 
in his own person, sufficient learning and talent to 
distinguish any community. He was, it must not 
be concealed, characterized by a certain severity of 
wisdom which frequently created opposition, and 
gave birth to disputes, whence arose to himself, 

* " Plures efficimur quoties metimur a vobis, semen est sanguis 
Christianorum." — Tertulliani Apologet. 



134 KELIGION AND LITERATURE 

as well as to others, much contumely and suffer- 
ing. His works, a large portion of which still re- 
main, place him unquestionably at the head of 
the Latin fathers, whether we take into considera- 
tion the importance of his subjects or the ability 
with which they are handled. They breathe, at 
the same time, such an elevated spirit, that it is 
impossible to read them without partaking of the 
enthusiasm which must have inspired the mind of 
the author. It has, indeed, been remarked, that he 
would have been a better writer had he been less 
attentive to the ornaments of rhetoric ; and a better 
bishop, had he been able to restrain the vehemence 
of his temper, and to distinguish with greater acute- 
ness between evangelical truth and that which only 
bore the semblance of it. 

When the second persecution was raised against 
the Christians, under the Emperor Valerian, this 
prelate was summoned to appear before the procon- 
sul of Carthage, by whom, when he had refused to 
sacrifice to idols, he was condemned to be banished. 
He was sent to a little town, then called Curebis, 
about fifty miles from the capital, where he was 
treated with great kindness by the natives, and fre- 
quently visited by the more faithful adherents of 
the Church. Orders having been received by the 
imperial lieutenant to take away his life, Cyprian 
was seized by a band of soldiers and conducted to 
the city. His answers to the usual questions re- 
specting his faith soon established the charge urged 
against him of believing in the Gospel ; upon which 
Galerius Maximus, who at that time exercised the 
government, pronounced upon him the sentence of 
death. No sooner were the words uttered than the 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



135 



martyr exclaimed, " God be praised!" He was 
then led to the place of execution, where he suffered 
with great firmness and constancy, — sealing with 
his blood the truths which he had taught, and in 
which he exhorted others to repose their confidence. 

The writings of this distinguished confessor are 
held in high esteem, for this reason, among others, 
that they are capable of being usefully quoted in 
supporting the doctrines and discipline of the Church. 
His letters are particularly valuable, not only as 
presenting the chief incidents of his life, but also as 
supplying some valuable materials for ecclesiastical 
history. The third century has not transmitted to 
us any account which delineates so clearly the 
spirit, the taste, the discipline, and the habits of the 
great community of believers. 

Lactantius, who for the elegance of his style was 
called the Christian Cicero, was celebrated as a pro- 
fessor of rhetoric before he was intrusted with the 
education of Crispus, a son of the Emperor Constan- 
tine. His " Divine Institutions" do honour to his 
zeal as a member of the Church, and entitle his 
name to a prominent place in the history of Africa. 
A more popular treatise, written by him on the 
iC Death of Persecutors," manifests the great inte- 
rest which he took in the cause of the Gospel, and 
also communicates a variety of facts connected with 
the biography of the leading men of those remote 
ages, which might otherwise have been lost to our 
ecclesiastical records. When opposed to writers who 
took the field in defence of paganism, the African 
orator never fails to gain a triumph ; but, it must 
be added that, when he undertook the office of an 
expositor of Sacred Scripture, he adopted too freely 



136 



RELIGION AND LITERATURE 



the principles which he had condemned in his Gen- 
tile antagonists. 

But among the divines whom Africa produced 
during the third and fourth centuries, none holds a 
higher place than Augustin. This learned man was 
horn at Tagasta, and pursued his studies at Car- 
thage ; in which city, both his morals and his theo- 
logical opinions received so deep a taint, that it was 
long before his character rose to the reputation 
which the voice of the Church has ever since confer- 
red upon him. He allowed himself in early life to 
become a convert to the doctrines of Manes, which, it 
has been suspected by able writers, were afterwards 
engrafted upon his speculations when labouring to 
systematize the several books of the inspired volume. 
It is true that he openly abjured all connexion with 
the Persian school, and even employed his great ta- 
lents in exposing their principal tenets ; but it is ma- 
nifest, nevertheless, that, in supporting his peculiar 
views on predestination and grace, he condescended 
to use arguments more closely allied to the sect 
whom he had abandoned, than to the gospels which 
he meant to illustrate or recommend. His zeal 
against the Pelagians, with whom he had success- 
fully contended, carried him towards those extremes 
which characterized his conclusions on the disputed 
articles of freewill, election, and original sin. 

Being raised to the office of bishop at Hippo Re- 
gius, the modern Bona, he had soon an opportunity 
of displaying the steadfastness of his belief and the 
firmness of his character. When Genseric, at the 
head of his Vandals, had overrun the greater part 
of the province, he met with a determined resist- 
ance at the episcopal city just named, which he there- 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



137 



fore resolved to level with the dust. When consult- 
ed by the Christians,, whether they ought to pro- 
vide for their safety by flight, or to await the onset 
of the barbarians, he decided in favour of the latter, 
as more becoming their duty ; and, when the place 
was actually invested, he encouraged his flock, as 
well by his example as by his eloquent discourses, 
to defend themselves against the fierce heretics who 
threatened at once their lives and the purity of 
their faith. Dreading, however, that he himself 
might fall into the hands of the exasperated enemy, 
he is said to have prayed that he might be relieved 
by death before the means of defence should be 
exhausted ; and it is well known that his desires in 
this respect were gratified, for he was gently remov- 
ed, in the third month of the siege, from the fright- 
ful calamities which impended over his country. 

When the city was destroyed by the soldiers of 
Genseric, the library of Augustin was saved from 
the flames. In it were found his own writings,, 
comprehending no fewer than 230 separate treatises 
on theological subjects, an exposition of the Psalms, 
and a great number of homilies. The learning of 
this prelate appears to have been confined to the 
Latin language ; the most competent critics never 
having been able to discover in his works any to- 
kens of an intimate acquaintance with Greek. His 
style, too, though inspired with the eloquence of 
passion, is not unfrequently clouded by a false and 
affected rhetoric, the vice of the age in which he 
lived, not less than of the country to which he owed 
his birth. But, notwithstanding these disadvan- 
tages, his fame has filled the whole Christian world ; 
and not without reason, as a variety of great and 



138 



RELIGION AND LITERATURE 



shining qualities were,, no doubt, united in his cha- 
racter. A lofty genius, a zealous pursuit of truth, 
an indefatigable application, a sincere piety, and no 
small skill in the art of composition, contributed 
to establish his reputation upon the most lasting 
basis. It is, indeed, admitted, that the accuracy 
of his judgment was by no means in proportion to 
the eminent talents now mentioned, and that upon 
many occasions he was more guided by the impulse 
of a warm imagination than by the dictates of wis- 
dom and prudence. Hence that ambiguity which 
appears in so many of his tracts, and which some- 
times renders the most attentive reader uncertain 
with respect to his real sentiments. Hence also the 
just complaints which have been made of the con- 
tradictions so frequent in his volumes, and of the 
eagerness which he shows to dilate upon subjects 
before he has made himself master of their different 
bearings. His theological dogmas, as is known to 
every one, were some centuries afterwards adopt- 
ed by the powerful mind of Calvin, who gave to 
them that harmony and mutual dependence in 
which consists their greatest strength. 

During this period the literature of the Western 
Empire was still preferred to that of the Greeks, 
who, prior to the conquest of the Vandals, had only a 
very slight intercourse with any part of Africa west- 
ward of the promontory of Carthage. For this reason, 
the works of the Christian Fathers, whose names 
we have just rehearsed, present little that is truly 
valuable, either in the form of criticism on the lan- 
guage of the Sacred Scriptures, or of doctrinal ex- 
position. Their chief importance, therefore, will be 
found to consist in the record they exhibit of the 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



139 



usages, opinions, and discipline of the Church in 
those early times, when as yet there were no secular 
motives to give a colour to innovation, or to with- 
draw the minds of the faithful from the standard of 
belief and practice left by the Apostles, whose au- 
thority was still so recent. 

Science as yet was very little cultivated by the 
divines of Africa. It was reserved for the Arabs 
to transplant into that country the mathematical 
knowledge of the Grecian sages, as well as the seve- 
ral hypotheses in relation to the physical laws of the 
universe, which had been inherited by the country- 
men of Thales, Parmenides, and Aristotle. The 
attention of the learned, from the reign of Domi- 
tian down to the fall of the Western Empire, was 
confined almost exclusively to the accomplishments 
of rhetoric and declamation ; pursuits, the effects of 
which may still be traced in the debasement of their 
style, and the general corruption of taste. Poetry 
and the fine arts were neglected, if we except sculp- 
ture, the aid of which was occasionally required to 
complete the magnificence of public buildings. 

The prosperity and confidence secured to the Af- 
rican provincials by the victories of Justinian were 
enjoyed By the Church, which, when relieved from 
the apprehension of external enemies, directed her 
cares to the purification of her doctrines, and the 
necessary reforms of discipline. No remarkable 
event occurs in her history till the rise of Moham- 
medanism, when the barbarians of the Arabian de- 
serts issued forth to establish the religion of their 
prophet ; offering to the civilized world the choice 
of conversion, tribute, or death. As the generals of 
the caliph had to encounter a resolute opposition on 



140 RELIGION AND LITERATURE 

the part of the imperial troops, and made hut slow 
progress in reducing the principal towns, the Chris- 
tians were ahle to maintain their faith long after the 
greater portion of the Barbary States had submitted 
to the Moslem. We find, accordingly, that at the 
distance of 200 years from the invasion of Akbah, a 
number of congregations continued to exercise the 
rites of the Gospel in different quarters of the pro- 
vince. Many of the natives, Moors or Berbers, 
had been admitted by baptism into the rank of be- 
lievers ; and these, though they did not appreciate 
very highly the doctrines they professed, would not 
yield them at once to the haughty conquerors. 

The existence of a Christian Church in Barbary, 
so long after the domination of the Saracens was 
established, may be partly ascribed to the toleration 
which those fanatics were permitted to exercise be- 
yond the boundaries of Arabia. According to the 
maxims received from their prophet, the holy land 
which had been first favoured with his revelations 
was to be kept pure from the contamination of in- 
fidels ; but the same rigid notions did not extend to 
other countries, if possessed by a people who be- 
lieved in Moses or Jesus Christ. All were, indeed, 
invited to accept the more perfect doctrines of the 
son of Abdallah ; but if they were unwilling to re- 
ceive the boon, they might enjoy freedom of con- 
science and of religious worship, upon paying an 
annual sum into the treasury of Mecca or of Bagdad. 
It is probable, therefore, that the many thousands of 
Africans who swelled the list of converts, must have 
been allured rather than intimidated to declare their 
belief in the impostor. The minds of the multitude 
were tempted by the invisible as well as temporal 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



141 



rewards held forth by the preachers of Islamism ; 
and in the revolution which was thereby produced, 
every member of the new society rose to the natural 
level of his capacity and courage. At length the 
influence of these mixed motives was so powerfully 
felt, that the Koran superseded the New Testament 
along the whole southern coast of the Mediterranean, 
— a victory of darkness over light which has been 
perpetuated to the present day. 

The architectural monuments of Christianity on 
the Barbary shores are much fewer than might have 
been expected. We learn from the Notitia, that 
there were at one period about 600 Episcopal sees ; 
though, from want of geographical minuteness in the 
description, it is not possible to determine the situa- 
tion of more than 100. It has also been a matter of 
surprise, that, while amidst the ruins of these cities 
there remain many altars and other tokens of pagan 
idolatry, the relics of Christian worship should be 
so scanty. An attempt has been made to explain 
this fact, by referring to the great hatred and con- 
tempt which the Saracens have always entertained 
towards the Nazarenes, and which have led them to 
obliterate all traces of a faith so little in accordance 
with their own. They are farther incited to this 
work of destruction by the hope of finding coins, or 
pieces of lead and iron ; portions of which metals 
were used in the structure of churches, as also in 
protecting the repositories of the dead. But what- 
ever may have been the motives to which this rage 
for demolition is to be ascribed, it is admitted by 
travellers, that hardly any crosses or other emblems 
of the Gospel are found among the dilapidated walls 
of the African provinces.* 

* Shaw's Travels (Edinburgh edition, 1808), vol. i. p. xxvii. 



142 



RELIGION AND LITERATURE 



It is remarkable that the Barbary States are the 
only land from which the benefits of the Gospel, after 
being long and fully enjoyed, have been totally 
withdrawn. The arts which were planted there 
by the colonists of Phoenicia and Rome were lost 
during the dark reign of ignorance ; and the doc- 
trines which had been diffused by the zeal of Cy- 
prian and Augustin were suppressed by the fanati- 
cism of barbarous warriors. Five hundred churches, 
we are told, were overturned by the hostile fury of 
the Donatists, the Vandals, and the Moors ; after 
which the energy and numbers of the clergy gra- 
dually decreased, until the people, deprived of know- 
ledge and hope, sunk submissively under the Ara- 
bian yoke. 

About the middle of the eighth century, within 
fifty years after the forces of the Greek emperors 
were expelled, Abdoulrahman, the governor of 
Africa, wrote to the Caliph Abul Abbas, that the 
infidels by their conversion had exempted themselves 
from tribute ; indicating thereby the rapid and 
extensive propagation of the Mohammedan faith. 
During the next age, an attempt was made by the 
Patriarch of Alexandria to revive the dying embers 
of Christianity. Five bishops were sent to Kairwan 
with the view of rallying the scattered members of 
the Church ; but as these missionaries belonged to a 
schismatical communion, no record of their labours 
has been preserved. It would seem, however, that 
the semblance at least of episcopal authority was re- 
stored at Carthage ; for, in the eleventh century, the 
successor of St Cyprian is known to have implored 
the protection of the Roman pontiff, to shield him 
at once from the furious intolerance of the Saracens 
and the insubordination of his own colleagues. In 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



143 



less than 100 years after that incident, the worship 
of Christ and the succession of the apostolical priest- 
hood were abolished throughout the whole province ; 
or if any believers remained, they concealed them- 
selves under those compliances with the prevailing 
superstition which were allowed and adopted on the 
principle of convenience. When Charles the Fifth, 
in the year 1533, landed on the coast, a few families 
of Latin Christians were encouraged to avow their 
faith both at Tunis and Algiers. But the seed of 
the Gospel was soon afterwards entirely eradicated ; 
and the extensive province from Tripoli to the At- 
lantic has lost all memory of the religion and lan- 
guage of Rome.* 

As the theology of Mohammedanism is not closely 
connected with literature, it is in vain that we look 
for any fruits of professional study among the ex- 
pounders of the Koran. Their first efforts, after the 
Ommiades assumed the Western Caliphate, were 
confined to the elucidation of their sacred books, the 
laws enjoined by their prophet, and to the cultiva- 
tion of poetry ; this last being the amusement or the 
labour of all rude tribes. When, however, their 
civil wars were brought to an end, the Moslem, un- 
der the dominion of the Abbassides, acquired a taste 
for science, especially for those branches of it which 
contribute to the success of astronomy. Almamoun, 
the seventh of that dynasty, pursuing the path which 



* Gibbon, chapter li. Cardonne, Histoire de l'Afrique, tome iii. 
p. 168. In allusion to the communication mentioned above, this 
author remarks, that, " II (Abdoulrahman) unit sa lettre, par re- 
presenter a ce prince qu'il ne devoit plus s'attendre a recevoir des 
tributs de l'Afrique ; que tous les peuples avoient embrasse le Ma- 
hometisme, et avoient fait cesser par-la tous les impots auxquels 
etoient assujettis les infideles." 



144 RELIGION AND LITERATURE 

had been marked out for him by his predecessors, 
employed confidential agents in Armenia, Syria, and 
Egypt, to collect the works of the Greek philoso- 
phers, which he also ordered to be translated into 
the language of Arabia, and illustrated by the most 
skilful interpreters. Humbling himself so far as to 
become a pupil to the nation whom his arms had 
subdued, he set an example of assiduous application 
to his subjects ; exhorting them to peruse with at- 
tention the instructive writings which he had pro- 
cared for their learning, and to make themselves 
masters of the rare wisdom which had exalted the 
countrymen of Plato and Euclid. " He was not 
ignorant/' says Abulpharagius, u that those are the 
elect of God, his best and most useful servants, 
whose lives are devoted to the improvement of their 
intellectual faculties. The mean ambition of the 
Chinese, or the Turks, may glory in the industry of 
their hands, or the indulgence of their sensual pro- 
pensities; though these dexterous artists must* view 
with hopeless emulation the hexagons and pyramids 
of a bee-hive, and acknowledge the superior strength 
of lions and tigers. The teachers of philosophy are 
the real luminaries of the world, which, without 
their aid, would again sink into ignorance and bar- 
barism."* 

The ardour of Almamoun extended itself to the 
Fatimites of Africa, who now deemed it an honour 
to become the patrons of the learned. The emirs 
of provinces were smitten with a similar emulation, 
and science met with an ample reward in all parts 
of the Mohammedan empire. The royal library is 
said to have consisted of a hundred thousand manu- 

* Dynast, p. 160. 
5 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



145 



scripts, elegantly transcribed and splendidly bound, 
which were freely lent to the students in the capi- 
tal, as well as at Kairwan and Alexandria. In every 
city the productions of Arabic literature were co- 
pied with much industry, and collected with great 
care. The treasures of Africa, however, were sur- 
passed by those of Spain, where the Ommiades had 
formed an establishment containing six hundred 
thousand volumes. Cordova, with the adjacent 
towns of Malaga, Almeria, and Murcia, could boast 
of having produced three hundred authors ; while, 
in the kingdom of Andalusia, there were, it is said, 
no fewer than seventy public libraries. Nor was 
this zeal for the promotion of science confined to 
one family or one age. On the contrary, it conti- 
nued to adorn the ascendency of the Arabians about 
live hundred years, when it was terminated by the 
great irruption of the Mongols, who succeeded in 
spreading a cloud of ignorance and barbarism over 
a large portion of Asia and of the West. This period 
of light in the several caliphates of Bagdad, Egypt, 
and Spain, beginning in the eighth and ending in the 
fourteenth century, coincided with the darkest and 
most inactive ages of Europe; but since the sun of 
knowledge rose again in the latter division of the 
globe, the shades of intellectual night appear to 
have fallen with increased obscurity upon all the 
kingdoms of Northern Africa.* 

It is not undeserving of remark, that some trea- 
tises, of which tne Greek originals are lost, have been 
preserved to us through the medium of Arabic trans- 
lations. As mathematics, astronomy, and physic, 

* Abulpharag. Dynast, p. 160, quoted in the Decline and Fall of 
the Roman Empire, chap. lii. 

I 



146 



RELIGION AND LITERATURE 



were the favourite subjects of investigation among 
the learned ^Mohammedans, it is not surprising that 
there should have been found in their repositories 
regular versions of Euclid, Apollonius, Ptolemy, 
Hippocrates, and Galen. In the department of me- 
taphysics, as also in that of the law of nature and 
nations, great value was attached to the speculations 
of Plato and Aristotle, those distinguished masters 
of reasoning and founders of the most celebrated 
schools in Greece. The Arabians, whose ingenious 
spirits inclined them to the study of dialectics, pre- 
ferred the philosophy of the latter; and as it afford- 
ed a plausible instrument for conducting debate, 
and more especially for methodizing the conclusions 
attained by argument or observation, it was adopt- 
ed generally in the seminaries established by the 
Saracens. Useless when applied to the interpreta- 
tion of physical phenomena, it afforded no aid to 
those who wished to detect the principles by which 
the movements of the material universe are regu- 
lated ; and, as in all respects it was better calculat- 
ed for the detection of error than for the investiga- 
tion of truth, it is not wonderful, that upon the re- 
vival of learning in Europe, the natural sciences 
should have presented themselves in nearly the 
same imperfect state in which they had been left, 
many centuries before, by the sages of Athens. 

The climate of Africa, as well as the habits of the 
oriental people who now inhabited the upper coast, 
encouraged the pursuits of practical astronomy, — a 
species of knowledge which was supposed to confer 
upon the adepts in its profounder mysteries an ac- 
quaintance with the destiny of individuals and of 
nations. The most costly apparatus was supplied 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



147 



by the Caliph Almamoun, and he had the satisfac- 
tion to find that his mathematicians were able to 
measure a degree of the great circle of the earth, 
and to determine its entire circumference at twenty- 
four thousand miles. But it was in chemistry that 
the Saracens made the greatest advances, and con- 
tributed most to the progress of modern science. 
They first invented and named the alembic for the 
purposes of distillation ; analyzed the substances of 
the three kingdoms of nature ; proved the distinc- 
tion and the affinities of acids and alkalies ; and con- 
verted the poisonous minerals into salutary medi- 
cines. It is true, no doubt, that the object of their 
most eager research was the transmutation of metals, 
and the elixir of immortal health ; and that their 
secret processes were aided by all the powers of 
mystery, fraud, and superstition. But it is equally 
certain, that the results of their numerous experi- 
ments tended to widen the boundaries of real know- 
ledge; to suggest better methods of manipulation; 
and finally to open a path into those spacious fields 
where man has reaped the most abundant fruits 
of ingenuity and perseverance.* 

It must be acknowledged, that the protracted do- 
mination of the Turks in Africa, and the destruc- 
tion of the capital so long occupied by the Com- 
manders of the Faithful, have occasioned the disap- 
pearance of the greater part of those monuments by 
which the scientific triumphs of the Arabs are else- 
where perpetuated. The catalogue of the Escurial 



* In the library of Cairo, the manuscripts of medicine and astro- 
nomy amounted to 6500, with two fair globes, the one of brass, the 
other of silver. — Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana, torn. i. p. 417. See 
Gibbon, chap. lii. 



148 RELIGION AND LITERATURE 

still bears testimony to the extent of their labours, 
both as commentators and translators ; while lists 
of works, edited or composed by the scholars of Bag- 
dad, prove that the court of the Abbassides was not 
less auspicious to the enterprises of literary zeal. 
But of the distinction which belonged to Kairwan in 
this respect, no traces now remain in the savage 
country of which it was once the ornament and the 
defence. The fame of that city, at one time filled 
with palaces and schools, is only to be heard in the 
form of an echo from contemporaneous writers, who 
nourished in Spain or Italy ; and is, in our days, 
faintly resounded in the compilations of Abulphara- 
gius, Renaudot, Fabricius, Asseman, Casiri, and 
the learned D'Herbelot. 

The preference shown by the African Mussul- 
mans to science, when compared with the lighter 
and more elegant studies of poetry, kept them igno- 
rant of Grecian literature, even while they occupied 
the provinces where it had attained its highest emi- 
nence. The Arabians, in fact, disdained to use any 
other language than their own, the beauty and co- 
piousness of which they never ceased to extol. 
Finding among their Christian subjects persons 
whom they could employ to form translations, they 
selected the most distinguished names in medicine 
and astronomy; but it has been remarked, that 
even in those seats of learning where the Arabic 
manuscripts are most numerous, there has not been 
discovered the version of a poet, an orator, or an 
historian. They were content that the annals of 
the world, prior to the era of their prophet, should 
be reduced to a short legend of the Jewish patriarchs 
and the Persian kings. The Greeks, on their part, 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



149 



actuated by a foolish vanity, were little disposed to 
communicate to their conquerors those graces of 
style and diction by which their own compositions 
were recommended to the finest taste. Hence the 
Mohammedans, even after their long residence in 
the Grecian colonies and Roman cities on both sides 
of the Mediterranean, never manifested in their 
writings a simple dignity of manner, a just appre- 
ciation of visible or intellectual beauty, a chaste de- 
lineation of character and passion, or an accurate 
conception of dramatical propriety, even in their 
most splendid fictions. 

The fifteenth century closes our researches into 
the religion and literature of the ancient Barbary 
States ; because at that period the dynasties which 
had hitherto connected them with the language and 
habits of Western Asia, gave way to a ruder sove- 
reignty, emerging from the remote regions of the 
North. The domination of the Turks has not yet 
been alleviated by the enjoyment of learned ease, nor 
ennobled by the pursuits of science. A brighter era 
has, perhaps, begun to dawn on those desolate tracts ; 
and were the example recently given by France 
cautiously but resolutely followed by other Euro- 
pean powers, and colonies established along the 
whole line of coast, civilisation, so long banished, 
might yet be restored ; Christianity would again re- 
sume her mild sway over the consciences and mo- 
rals of the inhabitants ; and learning, accompanied 
by the arts, would once more shed her blessings on 
the land where Cyprian preached and Tertullian 
wrote. 

It is not, however, to be concluded, that the 
Moors and Arabs are entirely indifferent to the educa- 



150 



RELIGION AND LITERATURE 




Coffeehouse and School at Byrmadrais. 

tion of their children,, or to the respect which always 
attends the possession of knowledge. Philosophy, 
mathematics, and medicine, which a few centuries 
ago were their peculiar inheritance, are,, it is true, 
very little studied among them. Their wandering 
life, and the oppression of the Turkish government, 
do not permit the enjoyment of that quiet, freedom, 
and security, without which the pursuit of letters 
cannot be attended with success. At the age of six, 
boys are sent to school, where they learn to read, to 
write, and repeat their lessons at the same time. 
They make no use of paper ; but, instead of it, each 
pupil has a thin smooth board, slightly daubed over 
with whiting, or fine sand, which may be wiped off 
and renewed at pleasure. 



OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



151 



After they have made some progress in the Koran, 
which is the principal book used in their seminaries, 
they are initiated in the several ceremonies of their 
religion. These acquirements, which may be at- 
tained by all, are seldom exceeded by any, even by 
those who devote their lives to contemplation. The 
erudition of the Mussulmans is confined to some en- 
thusiastic commentaries upon the sacred text, the 
outlines of a very inaccurate geography, and me- 
moirs of recent times ; for such histories as are older 
than their own era present nothing but a compound 
of distorted facts and extravagant romance. 

Of navigation, a practical acquaintance with which 
seems so essential to their prosperity as pirates and 
merchants, they scarcely know the simplest ele- 
ments. Their proficiency is limited to the rude art 
of what is called pricking a chart, and distinguish- 
ing the eight principal points of the compass. When 
Dr Shaw was in the country, the chief astronomer, 
whose duty it was to regulate the hours of prayer, 
had not trigonometry enough to project a sun-dial. 
Chemistry, once their favourite study, is now con- 
fined to the distillation of rose-water. The names 
of Avicenna and Averroes are hardly known. The 
quadrants, astrolabes, and other instruments left by 
their ancestors, are looked upon rather as curiosities 
than prized as useful inventions. Algebra and 
arithmetic, which owe so much of their advancement 
to the ancient Arabs, are not familiar, even in their 
most elementary form, to one person in a thousand 
among their descendants. The labours of Diophan- 
tus and of Albugiani are lost or neglected ; and the 
progeny of the brave and accomplished Saracens 
seem not aware of the obligations under which Eu- 



152 RELIGION, LITERATURE , &c. 

rope stands to them for having preserved the fruits 
of Egyptian art and Grecian philosophy. 

In such unfavourable circumstances, it cannot be 
expected that any branch of practical knowledge 
should be properly studied. There are not, indeed, 
wanting many persons who prescribe in physic, 
perform upon a variety of musical instruments, and 
engage in other professions which seem to imply 
some acquaintance with the mathematical and che- 
mical sciences. Yet, we are assured, such attain- 
ments have no foundation in principle, but are en- 
tirely the result of practice, aided by great quick- 
ness of thought and vigour of memory. The abili- 
ties of the people are allowed to be considerable; 
their ingenuity and perseverance are equal to the 
most arduous undertakings ; and the philanthropist 
has not to deplore the absence of any thing except 
a regular encouragement to industry. 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 153 



CHAPTER V. 

The Cyrenaica and Pentapolis. 

Modem Acceptation of the Term Barbary — Desert of Barca— Dis- 
trict of Marmarica— Its desolate State— Remains of ancient Im- 
provement — Derna— Natural Advantages— Habits of the People 
—Want of good Harbours— Attempt of Americans to colonize it 
—Ruins — Opinion of Pacho — Excavations and Grottos — Cyrene 
—Details by Herodotus — War with Egypt— Successes of the 
Persians — Form of Government— Cyrene subject to Egypt — 
Persians — Saracens— Present State of the Cyrenaica— Marsa- 
Suza— Ruins— Apollonia— Monuments of Christianity — Tombs 
—Theatres — Style of Architecture— Amphitheatre — Temples — 
Stadium — Hypogea— Notion of petrified Village — Account by 
Shaw — Remark by Delia Cella — Journey of Captain Smyth — 
State of Ghirza— Fountain of Apollo — Description of it— Exa- 
mined by Captain Beechey — Plain of Merge — Barca — History of 
— Doubts as to its real Position — Opinion of Delia Cella — Ptole- 
meta or Dolmeita — Fine Situation of the Town — Streets covered 
with Grass and Shrubs — Extent of the City — Ruins — Theatres 
— Magnificent Gateway — Supposed of Egyptian Origin — Hypo- 
thesis of Delia Cella — Disputed by Captain Beechey — Taucra, or 
ancient Teuchira — Unfavourable as a Seaport — Complete Demo- 
lition of its Buildings — Ruins of two Christian Churches — Tombs 
— Variety of Greek Inscriptions — Mode of Burial — Bengazi, or 
Berenice — Miserable Condition of the Place — Plague of Flies — 
Population — Character of Inhabitants — Gardens of the Hespe- 
Tides — Glowing Descriptions of them by ancient Writers — Position 
indicated by Scylax — Labours of Captain Beechey — Conclusion. 

It has been already stated that Barbary, according 
to the modern acceptation of the term, may be view- 
ed as comprehending four great pashaliks or govern- 
ments; all of which profess to own a subjection, 
more or less restricted, to the supreme authority of 



154 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

the Grand Turk. In describing these extensive 
provinces,, which stretch from the borders of Egypt 
to the shores of the Atlantic, we shall at first proceed 
from east to west ; having in some degree prepared 
for this arrangement by laying before our readers, 
in a former volume, all the facts which recent en- 
terprise has brought to light, regarding that perilous 
desert which, commencing at the left bank of the 
Nile, touches the sea in the neighbourhood of the 
greater Syrtis. The discoveries of Brown, Pacho, 
and others, who in later times have penetrated this 
dreary wilderness, have rendered familiar to the 
student of geography every thing that can be deemed 
interesting relative to Siwah, the seat of the ancient 
Ammonium, and those smaller oases by which the 
surface of the surrounding waste is relieved and di- 
versified. 

Moving along the coast westward from Alexan- 
dria, the traveller, upon reaching the 28th degree 
of longitude, finds himself in the district of Mar- 
marica, where the classical port of Parsetonium may 
still be recognised under the modern appellation of 
Al Bereton. This wild country is not recommended 
to the European eye either by its natural beauties 
or its historical remains. The soil, of a parched 
and barren aspect, refuses nourishment to those 
groves of laurel, myrtle, juniper, and arbutus, which 
in other parts adorn the northern edge of the Desert, 
and present an air of freshness to the mariner who 
approaches the shore. Traces are not wanting, in- 
deed, of happier times, when a race of men possess- 
ing industry and taste must have occupied its sur- 
face. Canals, constructed for the purpose of irri- 
gation, cross the plain in various directions, even 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 155 

ascending the sides of the hills ; and cisterns meant 
to retain the excess of moisture supplied by the rainy 
season, are still found in such a state of preservation 
as to indicate the plan on which they were built, 
and the materials of which they consisted. 

It admits not of doubt, that, when the Cyrenaica 
was subject to the King of Egypt, this province must 
have enjoyed a considerable share of wealth and 
importance. The labours bestowed on agriculture 
prove at once the extent of the population and the 
value attached to the produce of land ; and even at 
the present clay there are every where vestiges of 
ancient habitations, which, though they serve only 
to throw an additional gloom over regions condemned 
to desertion and melancholy, afford the best evidence 
that they were at one time blessed with at least a 
partial civilisation, and with such improvement as 
belonged to the parent state. 

The Gulf of Bomba presents itself as a principal 
feature in this scene, in which geographers are will- 
ing to recognise the harbour of Menelaus, mentioned 
by Herodotus, Strabo, and Ptolemy. No positive 
traces, it is true, can be discovered of the power or 
taste of the Cyrenians, though it is certain that their 
dominion extended so far to the eastward. The 
Bedouins, moreover, unite in declaring that, at a 
little distance from the bottom of the bay, there 
is a lake with a small island in the centre, co- 
vered with architectural relics of a superior order. 
The statements of such guides, however, are, for 
the most part, unworthy of trust, not only from ig- 
norance, but also from that habit of exaggeration to 
which all rude tribes are addicted. The specimens, 
accordingly, which fell under the notice of M. Pacho, 



156 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS, 



were executed in the Egyptian style, with very little 
regard to elegance, and bearing no marks of that 
refined genius which characterized the buildings of 
the Grecian colonists in the Pentapolis. 

The frontiers of Tripoli and Egypt are. as might 
be expected, extremely unsettled, being beyond the 
reach of either government, and affording a retreat 
to the thieves, the outlaws, and malecontents of both. 
Pitching their tents in the neighbourhood of the 
gulf, they make incursions into the adjoining dis- 
tricts, and plunder every one who has the misfortune 
to fall in their way. They are ever on the watch 
for the caravans and pilgrims who traverse the De- 
sert on their journey to Mecca : and this is the only 
route used by the people of Morocco, who are said 
of all Moslem to be the most fervently devoted to 
the prophet. It might seem, indeed, that the equi- 
page of a penitent would not hold out any tempta- 
tion to these rapacious freebooters : for. wrapped up 
in a tattered cloak, without shoes or headdress, and 
carrying no provisions besides a bag of barley-meal, 
he might appear rather an object of compassion than 
of plunder, even in the eyes of an Arab, But it is 
well known that under this semblance of extreme 
poverty the hajjis often conceal a quantity of gold- 
dust, which being brought from the interior of Africa 
to Fez, is thence conveyed as an article of commerce 
to the holy city. The hope of seizing this valuable 
booty subjects every traveller to the misery of being 
stripped and narrowly examined ; and it is related, 
that a few vears ago an uncle of the Moorish em- 

■ D 

peror, though escorted by 3000 men, was assailed 
by this horde of marauders and pillaged of all his 
treasures. 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 157 

The face of the country, from the gulf just de- 
scribed to Derna, is very uneven, rocky, and un- 
productive, with the exception of some glens or re- 
cesses in the hilly parts, which are covered with 
beautiful evergreens. The territory belonging to 
the latter place consists of a narrow plain of most 
fertile land, situated upon a small bay, and girdled 
on the south by a range of hills which at either ex- 
tremity dip into the sea. Within this enclosure 
flourish great numbers of palm-trees, whose rough 
tops are seen spreading over the softer forms of the 
vine, the pomegranate, the fig, olive, and apricot. 

In the centre of the plain, and surrounded by 
gardens full of orange and lemon trees, the exterior 
of the town is seen to great advantage ; but though 
its streets are more than usually regular, the houses 
are very low and small ; and, being built only of 
pebbles cemented with clay, appear very uncomfort- 
able. Their dwellings, indeed, exhibit the most 
painful evidence of the ignorance and idleness of 
the people ; for the adjacent hills abound with ex- 
cellent limestone, as well as with timber of the most 
suitable description for domestic architecture. Two 
abundant springs of pure water issue from the rocks 
which overhang the town ; one of which, collected in 
an aqueduct, supplies the inhabitants, and serves to 
irrigate the contiguous fields ; while the other is con- 
veyed to Demensura, a village about a mile distant. 
This copious moisture applied to the surface, com- 
bined with that which filters from the rocks through 
the subsoil, gives rise, in the glowing climate of Af- 
rica, to a strength of vegetation of which Europe can 
present no example. 

Derna, we are told, contains all the elements of 



158 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

an abundant subsistence for a large population. Ex- 
cellent meat and milk are brought thither by the 
Arabs, who feed their flocks on the neighbouring 
hills ; the valley is admirably fitted to bear all 
kinds of corn ; the most exquisite fruits abound 
throughout the winter ; and the natives have it in 
their power to carry on a lucrative trade in the 
honey which is produced in great quantities by the 
prodigious swarms of bees that multiply on the 
rocky heights. But these sources of prosperity are 
dried up by the withering influence of a despotic 
government. The laws afford no protection ; and 
confidence between the sovereign and the people 
has entirely disappeared. Besides, the more peace- 
ful residents are never safe from the incursions of 
the Bedouins, who frequently enter the town in 
armed bands, and indulge in the most savage plun- 
der. Fatalism, too, that offspring of Mohammedan 
superstition, continually exposes the occupants of 
the town to the ravages of the plague, which is con- 
veyed to them through their intercourse with Egypt, 
A few years ago, that destructive disease raged so 
fiercely, that the number of its inhabitants was re- 
duced from 5000 to 700. 

The natural advantages belonging to this district, 
and which, in the hands of a civilized people, might 
be converted into the means of distinguished wealth 
and power, are, to a certain extent, neutralized by 
the want of good harbours. This defect has been 
considered as the principal reason why no foreign 
nation, desirous of having a permanent footing in 
that section of the Mediterranean, has attempted to 
establish itself at Derna. The bay, it is clear, offers 
no secure asylum for shipping, while the anchorage- 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 159 

ground is described as being intersected by sharp 
calcareous strata, which would soon tear in pieces 
the strongest cables. It is said that the United 
States of America, notwithstanding these unfavour- 
able circumstances, expressed a wish to form a co- 
lony on this part of the coast, and even offered to 
purchase a portion of the territory from the Pasha 
of Tripoli. Their proposal being rejected, they are 
understood to have at length taken forcible posses- 
sion of Derna ; but it is added that, not long after- 
wards, they suddenly desisted from their enterprise 
and quitted the place, leaving behind them a bat- 
tery mounting six pieces of cannon, and a water- 
mill which is still in use. 

Mr Blaquiere endeavours to account for this 
relinquishment of an abortive undertaking, by in- 
sinuating, that the Americans, when at war with 
the pasha, between 1801 and 1804, seduced his 
brother, Sidi Hamet, who had been appointed to 
this government, to surrender the country into their 
hands. " Their object/' says he, " was that of 
holding this man up as a bugbear to frighten his 
highness into terms. These transatlantic heroes, 
however, after various though ineffectual attempts, 
were obliged to pay for a peace with Tripoli, and 
most shamefully abandoned poor Sidi Hamet to his 
fate^ by only stipulating for his return to Derna, in- 
stead of allowing him a pension." But it is pro- 
bable, that the true reasons were more profound 
and diplomatic than those now assigned, and that 
the warriors of the United States were withdrawn 
lest umbrage should be taken by France or Eng- 
land. Captain Beechey, who describes the battery 
as a castle, observes, that the remains of it are still 



160 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 



to be seen ; but that the guns are now thrown 
down, and the building itself is a mere heap of 
ruins.* 

A ravine which stretches back from the town 
into the mountains is of considerable extent, hav- 
ing on its sides some picturesque gardens adorned 
with trees. In the rainy season a large body of 
water rushes down into the sea, and is sometimes 
so deep and rapid as to become wholly impassable, 
separating one half of the houses from the other. On 
the eastern bank is the principal burying-ground of 
the place, distinguished in particular by a lofty 
tomb, raised on four arches, under which the body 
is laid, with its usual covering of snow-white ce- 
ment, and a carved turban at the head. Above 
the town a few sepulchres may be observed, though 
in a very decayed condition, and which must have 
been originally excavated out of the solid rock. 
Fragments of columns, and some large stones, evi- 
dently prepared for more stately buildings than the 
walls of Arab houses, indicate that Derna once ac- 
commodated a people to whom the arts and com- 
forts of life were not altogether unknown. 

A French author, whose name has been already 



* Mr Blaquiire remarks, that "the bay is exposed to easterly 
and northerly winds, but has excellent anchorage, and ships of any 
class may approach near the shore, it being- very bold. It is im- 
portant to observe, that vessels passing- by Derna may obtain sup- 
plies of water and fresh provisions at a very trifling expense ; and 
Lord Keith's fleet received supplies from this place during the me- 
morable campaign of Egypt The French government, aware of the 
importance of Deraa. sent Gantheaume with his squadron and a 
body of troops there in 1799, to disembark them for the purpose, as 
he informed the governor, of re-enforcing the army of Bonaparte in 
E^-ypt ; but his request was not acceded to, owing to the jealousy 
of the pasha, and the French adimral did not think it prudent to 
force a landing." — Letters from the Mediterranean, vol. ii. p. 6. 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 161 

mentioned, is of opinion that the proper city has 
entirely disappeared, and that its place is supplied 
by five villages ; two of which, Eljebeli and Man- 
sour, are erected either immediately over, or closely 
adjoining to, ancient sepulchral grottos. This de- 
parture from the custom of the Moslem has been jus- 
tified by necessity, or at least by the great usefulness 
of such excavations in so rainy a country; and 
hence, without perplexing themselves with any in- 
quiries as to the primary use of these vaults, they 
have converted them into workshops and recepta- 
cles for grain. The inhabitants construct their 
houses in such a manner that these caves are in- 
cluded in their yard or court. Viewed as objects 
of art, they present nothing remarkable, being 
equally devoid of inscriptions and of every other 
species of ornament. The workmanship, in short, 
is very rude. The grottos of the latter village are 
hewn in the sides of the mountain, the rocky sur- 
face of which is sometimes bare, and sometimes co- 
vered with verdure. The largest have been con- 
verted into manufactories, containing one or more 
looms, perfectly resembling those still used in the 
hamlets of the south of France. 

In the neighbourhood there are other excavations 
of a similar description. Some at a little distance 
eastward from the city are called Kennissiah, or the 
Churches. These are found at the summit of the 
steep rocks that border this part of the coast, and 
against which the sea dashes its waves. Steps, 
still seen at intervals, have been formed to the 
very top of the elevation ; but the water which is- 
sues from the clefts of the rocks, and a carpeting 
of moss, render the pathway slippery, and even dan- 

K 



162 THE CYREXAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

gerous. The ascent being accomplished, there is 
seen a little semicircular esplanade, round which 
runs a low bench, designed as a resting-place to the 
families of Derna who repair thither to perform 
their funeral-rites. The largest of the grottos ap- 
pears to be an ancient sanctuary, afterwards con- 
verted into a Christian chapel. All the others must 
have been merely tombs ; though the irregularity of 
their position and the inequality of the rocks render 
their appearance extremely picturesque. Arches and 
niches are to be seen in them of every form and di- 
mension, from the full Roman semicircle to the per- 
fect ogive of the middle ages. 

The district of Derna has acquired a factitious 
importance from a modern arrangement, by which 
it is made to comprehend the Cyrenaica together 
with the five Grecian towns whence originated the 
name of Pentapolis. The history of Cyrene, the 
oldest of these establishments, is given by Herodo- 
tus in his usual manner, mixing fable with facts, 
and connecting real events with the legends of a su- 
perstitious age. A colony of Spartans having join- 
ed the descendants of certain Phoenicians in the 
island of Calista, engaged in a variety of exploits 
suitable to the spirit of the times, under Theras 
their chief. Migrating from place to place, they at 
length agreed to consult the oracle as to their final 
residence ; when their leader received instructions to 
build a house in Libya. Some time elapsed before 
the meaning of the prophetess was clearly under- 
stood ; nor was it until after they had been taught 
% by severe suffering the true import of the response, 
that a party under Battus, the son of Polymnestus, 
guided by Corobius, a native of Crete, set sail for 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 163 

Africa, and landed on an island situated in the 
Gulf of Bomba* 

Following the directions of the oracle, the new 
settlers removed from Platea, the island on which 
they first took up their abode, and, making choice 
of the high ground on the shore of the neighbouring 
continent, built there the city of Cyrene, about the 
third year of the thirty-seventh Olympiad, nearly 
six centuries and a half before the reign of Tiberius 
Csesar. After the death of Battus and his son Ar- 
cesilaus, another migration from Greece added so 
much to their numbers that it became necessary to 
extend their borders into the Libyan territory. The 
natives applied to Egypt for help against the in- 
vaders ; and an army sent by Apries, the Pharaoh 
Hophra of the Scriptures, soon appeared on the 
western edge of the Desert, prepared to check the in- 
roads of the Lacedaemonian colonists. But the skill 
and resolution of these foreigners proved equal to the 
emergency which was thus created ; for, meeting the 
Egyptians at a place indicated by Herodotus, near 
the Fountain of Theste, they inflicted upon them so 
severe a defeat, that few were left to convey to Mem- 
phis the tidings of their calamity. Success, however, 
did not cement the bonds of their union, nor confer 
security upon their rising commonwealth. On the 
contrary, a series of dissensions led to the separation 
of a large body, who, abjuring the authority of their 
prince, founded a new establishment at Barca as the 
rivals or enemies of their Grecian brethren. 

This misunderstanding was soon followed by war, 
in which the Cyrenians sustained some heavy losses. 
Insurrection and murder carried their horrors into 



* Herodot. Melpomene, c. 147-169. 



164 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

both countries, and the interposition of Egypt was 
again implored by Pheretime, the mother of Arcesi- 
laus, the fourth of the name. Aryandes, the deputy of 
Darius Hystaspes, listened to the complaint of his 
royal supplicant, and sent towards the scene of con- 
tention an able general at the head of a command- 
ing force ; but before adopting decisive measures, 
he despatched a messenger to the people of Barca, 
desiring to be informed whether they were guilty of 
the crimes laid to their charge. On their acknow- 
ledging that they had put to death the King of Cy- 
rene, he gave orders that his troops should advance, 
accompanied by a fleet, which proceeded along the 
coast. After a long siege, Barca fell into the hands 
of the Persian leader, who, in violation of a sacred 
promise, committed the inhabitants to the revenge 
of the enraged Cyrenians, by whom they were but- 
chered in the most inhuman manner. The town 
itself appears to have fallen into decay, and, at no 
great distance of time, to have been relinquished in 
favour of the port, which gradually rose into some 
consequence. 

From this period till the conquest of the Persian 
empire, the atfairs of Cyrene are hardly mentioned 
in contemporaneous history. Aristotle remarks that, 
in his time, the government was republican ; and 
it is not improbable that, after the extinction of their 
royal line and the success of the army directed by 
Aryandes, the whole country became subject to the 
oriental viceroy, in the form of a province. At the 
time when the dispute took place between the peo- 
ple of Carthage and the Cyrenians, concerning the 
limits of their respective domains, it may be pre- 
sumed, from the account transmitted of it by Sal- 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 165 

lust,, that democracy was already established among 
the descendants of the Spartan emigrants. At all 
events, it is asserted by Strabo, that they continued 
to enjoy their own laws till Egypt was subdued by 
the arms of Alexander. After the death of the 
Macedonian hero, their country once more became 
the prey of contending adventurers, and was at 
length delivered into the hands of King Ptolemy 
by the general Ophelias. A brother of the Egyp- 
tian monarch, named Magas, reigned in Cyrene 
fifty years ; and it continued to be ruled by the 
Grecian dynasty of princes, now seated on the throne 
of the Pharaohs, till Ptolemy Physcon conferred it 
upon his illegitimate son Apion, who afterwards 
bequeathed it by will to the Eomans. The senate, 
it is well known, accepted the bequest, but allowed 
the several cities of the Pentapolis to be governed 
by their own magistrates ; and the whole territory, 
in consequence, soon became the theatre of civil 
discord, and exposed to the tyranny of ambitious 
rivals, all of whom aspired to the local sovereignty. 
Lucullus, who visited it during the first Mithrida- 
tic war, restored it to some degree of tranquillity ; 
but the source of dissension and internal broils was 
not entirely removed until the Cyrenaica, about se- 
venty years before the birth of Christ, was formally 
reduced to the condition of a Roman province. At 
a later period it was united in one government with 
the island of Crete, — an arrangement which sub- 
sisted in the days of Strabo, whose attention, as the 
geographer of the empire, was particularly drawn 
to its territorial distributions. 

It is conjectured that the period during which 
Cyrene enjoyed the greatest prosperity was when it 



166 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

acknowledged the authority of the Egyptian kings 
who succeeded Alexander, — an epoch when art was 
in the highest perfection, and literature in equal 
esteem. For the same reason, it appears probable, 
that when the Romans, to punish a tumult, de- 
stroyed a large portion of the city, they must have 
spared the temples and other public buildings ; for 
the principal remains which meet the eye of the 
traveller are decidedly Grecian, of an early age, ap- 
parently still more ancient than even the Ptolemaic 
dynasty. A similar remark applies to the tombs ; 
although among them there is a greater variety, 
embracing examples of all styles in the successive 
eras of African or European architecture. 

History does not supply us with the means of 
determining to what causes its final desertion ought 
to be ascribed ; but it admits not of any doubt, that, 
in the fifth century, it was already a heap of ruins, 
and that its wealth and honours were transferred 
to the episcopal city of Ptolemais. The entire de- 
vastation of the Greek settlements, however, in that 
part of Africa, was not effected till the reign of 
Chosroes, the Persian emperor, who, in the year 
616, overran Syria and Egypt, and even advanced 
as far as the confines of the modern Tunis. u His 
western trophy was erected," says Gibbon, " not on 
the walls of Carthage, but in the neighbourhood of 
Tripoli ; the Greek colonies were finally extirpated ; 
and the conqueror, treading in the footsteps of Alex- 
ander, returned in triumph through the sands of 
the Libyan desert." The Saracens completed the 
work of the Persians ; and for seven centuries this 
once fertile and populous region has been lost to ci- 
vilisation, to commerce, and even to geographical 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 167 

knowledge. For three parts of the year Cyrene is 
uninhabited, except by jackals and hyenas ; while, 
during the remainder, the wandering Bedouins, too 
indolent to ascend the higher range of hills, pitch 
their tents chiefly on the low ground southward of 
the summit on which the city is built. 

But most readers will be disposed to take a greater 
interest in its present condition than in its ancient 
history, and to read the events and acquisitions of 
the past in the relics which still remain of primi- 
tive art and magnificence. The latest and best 
authorities on this subject are Delia Cella, an Ita- 
lian physician, M. Pacho, and the two Beecheys ; 
all of whom examined the Pentapolis in person, and 
have also published their observations on the inte- 
resting country through which they passed. 

In proceeding westward along the coast of the 
Cyrenaica, the traveller finds his attention arrested 
by the ruins of Apollonia, once a port and seat of 
merchandise belonging to the African Greeks. It 
is situated in a bay formed by high cliffs, which, 
being very precipitous towards the sea, render it al- 
most inaccessible by land, except through those deep 
ravines that occasionally open upon the shore. A 
succession of rocks projecting into the water, from 
east to south-west, probably served as the base of the 
ancient mole, which on that side protected the har- 
bour ; and upon the remains of this natural bastion 
are the vestiges of buildings, of which some are also 
seen rising out of the waves. On the beach are the 
ruins of certain houses of importance ; among which 
are several columns of Pentilic marble, still en- 
tire, large blocks of wrought granite, and a few 
arches that seem to have supported a magnificent 



168 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

edifice. Near the hills are the remains of an 
aqueduct, constructed for the purpose of conveying 
water to the town ; and upon the stones are nume- 
rous inscriptions, which, though defaced by time, 
serve as records of the power of the Romans, and 
their frequent intercourse with this part of Africa.* 

We learn from the same authors, that Greek in- 
scriptions are also found among the different frag- 
ments of those antique piles ; and one, in particu- 
lar, which the Italian discovered near the sea, has 
given rise to some discussion. He remarks, that it 
was executed in strange and whimsical characters, 
very troublesome to copy; but which, he thinks, 
supply a memorial of the people, who, at various 
periods, have frequented or ruled over Apollonia.t 

This port, the ancient harbour of Cyrene, and 
known in former times by the appellation of So- 
suza, is now denominated by the Arabs Marsa- 
Suza. That it is the celebrated port of the chief 
seat of the Grecian settlements there can be no 
doubt, as well from its magnificent remains as from 
its position, which coincides with that laid down by 
the best geographers ; being 100 stadia from Nau- 
stadmos, 160 from the promontory Phycus, and 
80 from Cyrene. Surrounded by precipitous heights 
towards the interior, its principal use at present is 
to afford an asylum to the natives, when pursued 
by those bands of robbers who dwell near the Gulf 
of Bomba, and who sometimes extend their preda- 



* Delia Cella, p. 160. A D. . . E A E. S E V 

Ti DE.M CVMIC 

AE. — D V 

CVN 

f Beechey, p. 568-580. Delia Cella, p. 160. 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 169 

tory excursions as far as the recesses of the moun- 
tains which form the western boundary of Derna.* 

The actual condition of this remarkable place af- 
fords a strong instance in support of the opinion ad- 
vanced by most travellers in Northern Africa, that 
the Mediterranean is encroaching fast on its south- 
ern shores, while it is gradually receding from those 
of Italy, Dalmatia, and the Morea. From this 
cause, portions of the elevated ground on which the 
front of the town was built, are continually falling 
in ; the scene or stage of the principal theatre out- 
side the walls has been wholly swept away by the 
waves ; and the tombs along the beach are com- 
monly filled with water. The public edifice now 
mentioned appears to have rested partly on the na- 
tural rock and partly on the citadel ; and the seats 
must have been approached from above, there being 
no entry at either side. As the ranges of the sub- 
sellia are still very perfect, the effect of the build- 
ing, as it now presents itself, is that of a stupen- 
dous flight of steps leading down from the bank on 
which they repose to the level of the orchestra, long 
ago washed away by the sea. 

The ground-plans of several other buildings in 
Apollonia may still be traced with no small degree of 
certainty. Those of the Christian churches in parti- 
cular are very decided, as well as the remains of a 
noble structure, of a similar form, at the western extre- 
mity of the town. The handsome marble columns, 
which now encumber the edifices which they once 
adorned, afford evident proofs that no expense had 
been spared in the erection of these magnificent 



* Delia Cella. Scyl. Perip. Strabo, lib. xvii. 



170 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 



temples ; for the material of which they are com- 
posed is not found in this part of Africa, and must 
have been transported from a great distance at an 
immense cost. On the centre of the shafts of some of 
these pillars, Captain Beechey observed the figure 
of a large cross engraved : they have all been origi- 
nally formed of single pieces, some of which still re- 
main entire, and would, he thinks, be no inappro- 
priate ornaments to churches of modern construc- 
tion. The reflection which rises in the mind of the 
gallant officer is at once natural and becoming: 
he regards these splendid monuments of Christia- 
nity, in a country labouring under ignorance and su- 
perstition, as affording pleasing memorials of early 
piety, and recalling the active times of Cyprian and 
Anastasius, of the philosophic Synesius, — himself a 
Cyrenian, — and other distinguished actors in those 
memorable scenes which Northern Africa once pre- 
sented to an admiring world. But the grass is now 
growing over the altar-stone, and the munificence 
which gave birth to these stately buildings is visi- 
ble only in their ruins. 

But Cyrene itself is still more interesting than its 
port. Its position, we are told, is on the edge of a 
range of hills, about 800 feet in height, descending 
in terraces one below another, till they are each 
met by the level ground, which forms the summit 
of the next declivity. At the foot of the upper 
one, on which the city was built, is a fine sweep 
of table-land, most beautifully varied with wood, 
among which are scattered tracts of barley and corn, 
and meadows covered a great part of the year with 
verdure. Ravines, the sides of which are thickly 
planted with trees, intersect the country in various 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 171 

directions, and supply channels for the mountain- 
streams in their passage to the sea. This elevated 
platform extends east and west as far as the eye can 
follow it ; while the lower range, which runs along 
the whole coast of the Cyrenaica, is likewise richly 
wooded, and diversified with deep glens. The 
height of the latter may be estimated at 1000 feet ; 
and the city, which was placed on the upper one, 
must have been about 1800 feet above the level of 
the Mediterranean, of which it commanded a most 
extensive view. The prospect, indeed, is described 
as truly magnificent, and is said to remain in the 
mind undiminished in interest by a comparison 
with others, and to be as strongly depicted there af- 
ter a lapse of years, as if it were still before the 
eyes in all the distinctness of reality. 

It has been stated that the sides of the mountains 
do not descend abruptly to the plain below, but in 
terraces, one under another, which at length termi- 
nate on the level of the beach. The inhabitants 
have skilfully taken advantage of this formation, and 
shaped the ledges into roads, leading along the side 
of the hill, and which seem to have originally com- 
municated with one another by means of steps cut 
in the rock. These drives are to this day distinctly 
lined with the marks of chariot- wheels, deeply in- 
dented in their stony surface. In most instances, 
the cliffs rise perpendicularly from one side of these 
aerial galleries, and are excavated into innumerable 
tombs, which have been formed with immense labour 
and care, — the greater number being adorned with 
architectural fa9ades built against the polished rock, 
and thereby contributing much to the beauty of the 
scene. The outer sides of the esplanades, where the 



172 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 



descent takes place from one range to another, are or- 
namented with sarcophagi and monumental tombs ; 
while the whole space between the terraces must 
have been completely Wed with similar structures. 
These,, as well as the excavated sepulchres, exhibit 
very superior taste and execution ; and the clusters 
of dark-green furze and slender shrubs, with which 
they are now partly overgrown, give, by their con- 
trast of form and colour, an additional effect to the 
multitude of white buildings which spring up in 
the midst of them. 

The tombs generally consist of a single chamber; 
at the end of which, opposite the door- way, is an 
elegant facade, almost always of the Doric order, 
cut in the rock with considerable taste and exactness. 
It usually represents a portico ; and the number of 
columns by which it was supported varied accord- 
ing to the length of the room. Between the pillars 
were niches cut deep into the mountain, for the re- 
ception of the ashes or bodies of the deceased ; the 
dimensions of which were also regulated by the 
height of the columns and their distance from one 
another. In several of these vaults were disco- 
vered remains of painting, exhibiting historical, al- 
legorical, and pastoral subjects, executed in the man- 
ner of those found at Herculaneum and Pompeii ; 
some of which, we are assured, were by no means 
inferior to the best specimens preserved in these 
cities. It appears, moreover, that the different mem- 
bers of the architecture must, in many instances, 
have been coloured ; examples which may be ad- 
duced in confirmation of an opinion founded on the 
recent discoveries at Athens, that the Greeks, like 
the Egyptians, were in the habit of staining their 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 173 

buildings, and thereby sullying the modest hue of 
their Parian and Pentilic marbles. 

In a ravine on the western side of the city, there 
was likewise found a number of tombs, similar in 
most respects to those already described. In truth, 
the various terraces formed into roads seem to 
prove that the people of Cyrene delighted in streets 
of sepulchral monuments, and were wont to take 
their pastime surrounded by the mouldering bo- 
dies of their ancestors. In passing along the gal- 
leries here, Mr Beechey discovered one instance of 
a mixture of two orders of architecture in the same 
building, — the portico being raised on Ionic columns, 
surmounted with a Doric entablature. 

But, if the excavated tombs are objects of much 
interest, those also which have been built on every 
side of this ancient town are no less entitled to no- 
tice and admiration. Several months, it is said, 
might be employed in making drawings of the most 
conspicuous of these elegant structures; many of 
which are erected in imitation of temples, although 
there are scarcely two of them exactly alike. A 
judicious observer might select from these mauso- 
leums examples of Grecian and Roman taste through 
a long succession of interesting periods; and the 
progress of the architectural art might thus be sa- 
tisfactorily traced, from its early state among the 
first inhabitants of Cyrene, to its final decay in the 
hands of Italian colonists during the decline of the 
empire. Innumerable busts and statues originally 
adorned these mansions of the dead, and many of 
them are still seen half-buried beneath heaps of 
rubbish and soil at the foot of the buildings, of 
which they once occupied the most elevated parts. 



174 



THE CYRENAICA AND PEXTAPOLIS. 



Those entirely above ground are usually observed 
broken into several pieces, or so much mutilated as 
to have become mere trunks ; but there is no doubt 
that great numbers are still existing in a perfect 
state, very little sunk under the surface, which 
might be procured at a trifling expense. Mr Beechey 
mentions, in regard to these remains of art, an ab- 
surd inconsistency in the Arab character. The very 
same statue which they would walk over day after 
day, without ever honouring it with a glance in 
passing, will in all probability be shivered to atoms 
the moment it becomes an object of particular no- 
tice/" 

It need scarcely be observed, that the style of ar- 
chitecture in which the monumental tombs have 
been constructed varies according to the date of the 
building, and apparently, also, to the consequence of 
the persons interred in them. The order employ- 
ed, more especially in the earlier examples, is for 
the most part Doric. From certain circumstances 
it is concluded, that the custom of burying the en- 
tire corpse very generally prevailed in Cyrene and 
other cities of the Pentapolis ; and this is one of the 
few instances in which any analogy is perceived be- 
tween the customs of the Grecian colonists and those 
of the Egyptians. It is certain, however, that the 
practice of burning the bodies., and of preserving 
the ashes in urns, prevailed also among the inhabit- 
ants of the Cyrenaica, as it did in the other states 
whose origin was similar. 

But the tombs are not the only structures of 
which the plan and the materials may still be re- 



* Proceeding's, &c. p. 500, &c. 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 175 

cognised. The ground on which the city stood is, 
indeed, so greatly encumbered with decayed vege- 
tables, and a thick stratum of new soil, that it is no 
easy matter to detect the numerous columns and 
statues which lie half buried in its bosom. Mr 
Beechey and his friends discovered the remains 
of two theatres ; but so much was the mould now r 
mentioned heaped about the walls, that, had it not 
been for the semicircular shape of the green masses 
which presented themselves to the eye, no one could 
have suspected they concealed the ruins of large 
edifices. The pillars which once ornamented the 
scene in the larger of these buildings had been 
thrown from the basement on which they formerly 
stood, and were scattered in various places along the 
whole length of the range. Among them were se- 
veral statues, which appeared to have been por- 
traits, executed with great freedom and taste, and 
beyond were the Corinthian capitals of the columns, 
which had rolled in their fall to some distance from 
their position. These, as well as the bases, were 
composed of a fine white marble, the polish of which 
was in general very perfect ; and the shafts, con- 
sisting of a coloured species, were formed of single 
pieces, which added considerably to the effect pro- 
duced by the costliness of the material. The able 
artist, on whose description we now rely, thinks 
that this theatre must have been Roman, and is 
disposed to ascribe it to the time of Augustus or of 
Hadrian. The whole depth of the building, in- 
cluding the seats, the orchestra, and the stage, appears 
to have been about 150 feet, and the length of the 
scene about the same. The porticos in the rear 
of the seats are 250 feet long, and the space be- 



1J6 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

tween these and the colonnade at the back of the 
scene, is of equal extent. The edifice would thus ap- 
pear to have been comprehended in a square of 250 
feet, not including 'the depth of the portico behind 
the subsellia, which, it is admitted, is rather uncer- 
tain. Like many of the Grecian theatres, it has been 
built against the side of a hili, which, as at Apollo- 
nia, forms the support of the seats, the highest 
range of which must have been on a level with the 
platform at the back, from whence the spectators 
descended to the lower benches. The situation of 
this place of amusement is said to be extremely de- 
lightful, and worthy of a structure which, when 
perfect, must have been a very beautiful object ; the 
richness of the materials of which the columns were 
formed adding greatly to its effect, in respect of splen- 
dour, if not precisely in point of taste. * 

The plan of the other theatre varies materially 
from that of the one now described, and its propor- 
tions are also very different. Instead of being ap- 
proached from above, like the other, there are five 
passages by which the spectators entered, and two 
communicating with some place beneath the front of 
the stage, which, however, are so much blocked 
up with rubbish, that it is impossible to explore 
them. Some rows of seats were found hollow, — a 
fact which seemed to give a degree of confirmation 
to a statement mentioned by Vitruvius, that the 
Greeks were in the habit of placing in the interior 
of their benches in public buildings a species of 
brazen vase, by means of which the sound was 
considerably improved. No materials remain to 

* Beechey, p. 50B. We quote the opinions of Mr Beechey, the 
Captain's brother. 

6 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 177 

confirm the conjecture; for, although the vacant 
spaces in the subsellia were carefully formed, as if 
with the view of accomplishing some object, nothing 
was found in them except a few pieces of pottery. 

No part of the stage, if we omit the lower section 
of a wall, is now standing. The width of the or- 
chestra, where it joins the proscenium, is not more 
than sixty feet, and its depth about eighty, while 
the space occupied by the seats could not be more 
than forty. There are, however, extensive remains 
of certain buildings which must have been attached 
to the eastern side of this theatre ; so large, indeed, 
as to have enclosed public walks, and to have been 
ornamented with numerous porticos and statues. 
Among these last there is one which, from the Am- 
nion's head, and the eagles which decorate the armour, 
is supposed to represent a Ptolemy ; while near it is 
another, which must have been meant to do honour 
to a Berenice, an Arsinoe, or a Cleopatra. 

On the outside of the walls, westward of the an- 
cient city, there are the ruins of an amphitheatre, 
which must likewise have been a striking object. 
It has been constructed on the verge of a precipice, 
commanding a most extensive and beautiful view, 
and receiving in all its purity the freshness of the 
northern breeze, so grateful in an African climate. 
Part of it, as usual, is built against the side of a hill, 
which supported the seats fronting the precipice ; 
and that portion of it which bordered upon the 
verge of the Desert rose abruptly from the edge, like 
a stupendous wall, overlooking the country below. 
The foundations of this part of the edifice appear to 
have been remarkably strong, and are even now 
very complete ; but the subsellia raised upon them 



178 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS, 



have been tumbled from their places, and lie around 
in broken masses. On the side which has the hill for 
its basis nearly forty rows of seats are still remain- 
ing, one above the other: and though each of these 
is fifteen inches in height, the edge of the precipice 
appears from the upper range to be quite close to the 
lowest, although in fact the whole of the arena, not 
less than 100 feet in diameter, intervenes between 
them. There are traces of a Doric colonnade along 
the margin of the cliff, forming the north side of 
one of the enclosed spaces contiguous to the ami: 
theatre. The capitals are said to be beautifully 
executed. 

As few remains of dwelling-houses are observed 
on the northern side of the town, it is supposed not 
to have been very closely inhabited. Ther : 
however, to have been no want of public edi- 
fices : for travellers have distinguished the ruins of 
two spacious temples, as well a.s of the stadium, that 
ornament of Grecian towns. Of the former, the 
largest is 169 feet in length and 61 in breadth. The 
architecture is Doric of the early style: and the 
capitals, though much defaced, still exhibit prooi 
of excellent taste and workmanship. The smaller 
temple, besides being built on rising ground, has the 
additional elevation of a very solid basement, con- 
siderably above the level of the surface. The di- 
mensions are 111 feet by 50. The capitals of some 
fluted columns lying at the bottom of the eminence 
are of no decided order, and present, it is thought, 
a mixture of Greek and Egyptian, — a combination 
which will not be deemed improbable within the 
precincts of Gyrene. The stadium has felt more 
than either of the fanes now described the wasting 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLXS. 179 



hand of time; the course is overgrown with the 
rankest vegetation, and nearly all the masonry has 
disappeared. The length is somewhat more than 
700 feet, the width being about 250 ; and, like the 
theatres, it seems to have had some contiguous 
buildings subsidiary to its uses, and comprehended 
in its plan. Still, it is allowed that in the tombs 
are preserved the finest specimes of Grecian art now 
extant in Cyrene ; nearly the whole of this famed 
city, including its public and private structures, be- 
ing reduced to an undistinguishable mass of rubbish. 

But there is reason to doubt whether many of the 
grottos which wear the appearance of repositories 
for the dead, were not rather originally intended as 
abodes for the living. This is the opinion of M. Pacho, 
who found in a mountain between Cyrene and Apol- 
lonia a vast number of excavations, which had not 
in his eyes the slightest indication of a sepulchral 
design. Some of x them are so capacious that you 
may enter them on horseback. Several are adorned 
in front with a monolithic portico, and an open hall ; 
others have either a straight or a winding avenue ; 
and one of them is distinguished by a handsome stair- 
case, cut in the solid rock, and adorned with an 
arched roof of masonwork. This expensive canopy, 
he thinks, was intended to shelter from the rains 
the inhabitants of Cyrene, who came hither to 
inspect the merchandise sent from their port ; for., 
€e doubtless," he adds, " these large hypogea were 
magazines." They have for many years offered a con- 
venient residence to the Arabs of Barca ; and whole 
tribes have successively taken up their abode in 
them. Hordes of banditti, it is true, have occa- 
sionally invaded these peaceful retreats ; have driven 



180 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

away their occupants, and made them a receptacle 
for their plunder; but their ascendency has never 
been of long duration. The neighbouring tribes 
have united ; the robbers have been dispersed ; and 
the lawful proprietors have gained possession of their 
troglodytic town.* 

In the ravine beyond the western limits of the 
city, this traveller discovered an excavation which, 
in point of magnitude and beauty, surpassed all that 
he had examined in any other quarter. It appears 
to be situated about half-way between the bottom 
of the dell and the level of the plain above, from 
both of which there are regular approaches cut with 
infinite care. Having entered the cavern, he found 
himself in a vast quadrangle surrounded with a 
low bench. At the farther end is a square altar, 
above which is a larger niche, designed, as he ima- 
gined, to receive the statue of the presiding deity. 
The walls are overgrown with a rank vegetation, 
which it is necessary to tear down in order to de- 
cipher the inscriptions with which they are covered. 
It may be seen at the first glance that they belong 
to very different epochs ; every corner of the exca- 
vation being bedaubed in the most fantastic manner. 
Some are deeply engraved in letters of five or six 
inches long, while others are in so small a character 
as to be scarcely perceptible. Besides which, here 
and there occur a number of unconnected names, 
such as Aristo teles, Alexander, Jason, and Agathocles. 
It would seem, continues M. Pacho, that the place 
was an excavated temple, consecrated probably to 
one of the principal divinities of Cyrene, and that 
strangers came to visit it in the discharge of a sacred 

* Voyage dans la Marmarique, p. 193. 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 181 

duty. The situation, too, of this religious monu- 
ment, near the only forest which is found in the 
vicinity of the town, appears to accord perfectly 
with the presumed object and origin of this wood ; 
leading back the mind to the very earliest period of 
the Greek colony in Libya. The majestic cypresses 
which compose it are thus viewed as the descendants 
of those trees which the chief of the Battiades con- 
secrated to the service of the gods.* 

It is not improbable that the scenes now described 
gave rise to the fiction of the " petrified village" 
mentioned by Shaw, and which for a time excited 
no small interest among the philosophers of Europe. 
The Tripoline ambassador at London, to whom in- 
quiries were addressed relative to so strange a phe- 
nomenon, reported, on the authority of a friend who 
had been upon the spot, that it comprehended a large 
town of a circular figure, which had several streets, 
shops, and a magnificent castle, belonging to it ; that 
his informant saw different sorts of trees, but mostly 
the olive and the palm, all turned into a bluish or 
cinder-coloured stone ; that there were men also in 
different postures and attitudes, some of them ex- 
ercising their trades and occupations, others holding 
bread and similar articles in their hands ; that of 
the women some were giving suck to their children, 
while others were sitting at their kneading-troughs ; 
that in entering the castle there was a man lying upon 
a gorgeous bed of stone, with guards standing at the 
doors armed with pikes and spears ; and that he ob- 
served different sorts of animals, such as camels, oxen, 
asses, horses, sheep, and birds, all of them converted 
into stone, and of the same bluish colour. Some of 

* Voyage, &c. p. 230. Modern Traveller, Africa, vol. i. p. 174. 



182 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

the figures were said to want their hands, others a 
leg or an arm. It was farther related, that several 
pieces of petrified money had been brought from 
thence; not a few of which were as large as an English 
shilling, with a horse's head on the one side and 
unknown characters on the other." 

The Necropolis of Cyrene, with its numerous 
statues and chambers, variously coloured, might 
well suggest to the superstitious mind of an ignorant 
Bedouin the notion of a petrified town. Delia 
Cella affords the materials of a different explanation, 
by alluding to the depositions which take place in 
the natural caves of calcareous mountains. He 
visited one of these near Safsaf, which, he remarks, 
had acquired great celebrity from the credulity of 
the neighbouring inhabitants, who, in the stalactites, 
discover the images of petrified gods, men, and mon- 
sters, every one giving to each fantastical form the 
name which suits his fancy.t 

Dr Shaw had been induced to perform a danger- 
ous journey to Hani am, in Numidia, having been 
assured by the Arabs, with the most solemn assever- 
ations, that a number of tents might be seen there, 
surrounded by cattle of different kinds converted in- 
to stone. On arriving, however, at the place, he 
had the mortification to find that all the accounts 
which he had heard were idle and fictitious, and 
without the smallest foundation except in the extra- 
vagant brains of the natives. He tells us, moreover, 
that about forty years prior to the time at which he 
wrote, M. Le Maire, the French consul at Tripoli, 



* Travels or Observations relating" to several Parts of Barbary, 
vol. i. p. 286. Edinburgh edition, 1808. 
-f- Travels in Barbary, p. 163. 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 183 



made inquiry, at the desire of his court, into the truth 
of the popular rumour as to petrified bodies at Ras 
Sem. The janizaries, who, in collecting the tribute, 
travel every year through the district in question, 
promised to gratify his wishes ; adding, however, 
that, as an adult person would be too heavy to carry, 
they could only undertake to bring him the body of 
a young child. After a great many difficulties, de- 
lays, and disappointments, they at length produced a 
little Cupid, which they had found, as he afterwards 
learned, among the ruins of Leptis, and, to conceal 
the deceit, they broke off the quiver and some of 
the other characteristics of this insidious deity. 
Adepts in fraud, they represented to the Frenchman 
that, if they had been detected in the act of putting 
into the hands of an infidel one of the unfortunate 
Mussulmans whose remains they had visited, they 
should certainly have been strangled by their coun- 
trymen; and, upon the ground of this frightful 
hazard, they raised a charge for 1000 dollars. In 
short, his most earnest inquiries, supported by the 
offer of great rewards, brought nothing to light. 
After sending a number of individuals expressly, 
and at no small cost, to make discoveries, he could 
never learn that any traces of walls, buildings, ani- 
mals, or articles of furniture, were to be seen with- 
in the verge of the petrified district.'* 

Captain Smyth, of his Majesty's ship the Adven- 
ture, like the learned author just named, was pre- 
vailed upon to travel as far as Ghirza on a similar 
mission ; being informed by the Sultan of Fezzan, 
who had recently returned from a marauding ex- 
pedition, that he passed through the desolate city, 

* Travels, vol. i. p. 292. 



184 



THE CYRENAICA AND PEXTAPOLIS. 



which abounded in spacious buildings, and was or- 
namented with such a profusion of statues as to 
have all the appearance of an inhabited place. 
This account, supported by several collateral cir- 
cumstances, impressed him with the idea that it 
must be the celebrated Ras Sem, and consequently 
inspired him with a strong desire to repair thither. 
After a toilsome march of nine days' duration, he 
was sorely disappointed on seeing some badly-con- 
structed houses, of comparatively modern date, and 
a few tombs at a small distance. On approaching 
the latter, he found them of a mixed style, and in 
very indifferent taste, decorated with ill-propor- 
tioned columns and clumsy capitals. The regular 
architectural divisions of frieze and cornice being 
neglected, nearly the whole depth of the entabla- 
tures is loaded with absurd representations of 
warriors, huntsmen, camels, horses, and other ani- 
mals, in low relief. The human figures are mise- 
rably executed and generally small, varying, even 
on the same tomb, from three feet and a half to 
twelve inches.* 

In the neighbourhood the captain observed a 
monumental obelisk of heavy proportions, and near 
it four tombs, presenting a similar style and orna- 
ments with those already described. They are re- 
markable, however, as combining more distinctly a 
mixture of Greek and Egyptian architecture, and 
are placed so as to give a singular interest to the 
scene. A wandering Bedouin, who had resided 
some time in the valley, produced a fine medal, in 
brass, of the elder Faustina, which he had found in 

* Captain Smvtlvs Journal is printed in Captain Beechers work, 
p. 504-512. 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 185 

the immediate vicinity. The tombs appear to have 
remained uninjured by the action of either the sun 
or the atmosphere, and therefore the sculpture, if 
such it ought to be called, continues in its original 
completeness. 

As these edifices are near the Fezzan road, people 
from the interior have been occasionally induced to 
examine them ; and, being the only specimens of the 
art they ever saw, they have, not unnaturally, on 
their arrival at the coast, described them in glowing 
colours. It is the opinion of Captain Smyth, that 
it must have been this nucleus, as he calls it, which 
soon swelled into a petrified city, and, at length, 
not only attracted the curiosity of Europe, but also 
obtained general belief in Africa. It has been 
deemed a species of pilgrimage, as the caravans pass, 
to resort thither, and to utter or inscribe a prayer 
for the unhappy Moslem who are confined to that 
dreary solitude in the form of stone. Notwithstand- 
ing the diminutive size and despicable execution of 
the carved figures, the Turks view them with ad- 
miration and respect, extolling the powers of art 
which, in its imitations, can approach so near to the 
wonderful works of nature !* 

Such was the only direct issue of the journey 

* It is still more probable, that the idea of a petrified city has 
been suggested by the appearance of Cyrene and other towns of 
the Pentapolis. Bruce, who also visited Ras Sem, remarks, " I 
was not fortunate enough to discover the petrified men and horses, 
the women at the churn, the little children, the cats, the dogs, and 
the mice, which his Barbarian Excellency assured Sir Hans Sloane 
existed there ; yet, in vindication of his excellency, I must say that, 
though he propagated, he did not invent this falsehood ; the Arabs 
who conducted me maintained the same stories to be true till I was 
within two hours of the place, when I found them to be false." It 
is deserving of notice, that the Ras Sem of Shaw and Bruce cannot 
now be identified. 



186 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

to the petrified city at Ghirza; in the coarse of 
which, however, though the result fell short of his 
expectations, more was obtained and accomplished 
by Captain Smyth than has yet rewarded the ex- 
ertions of any other travellers who have compared 
the actual state of particular districts with the florid 
descriptions given of them by the Arabs. 

As an apology for the deception practised by the 
natives on themselves, as well as on strangers, it is 
proper to observe that, in the opinion of Mr Beechey, 
who accompanied his brother, all the excavated 
tombs were originally adorned with paintings in 
body-colour, representing compositions either of 
figures or animals. The prevailing tints are blue 
and red. The triglyphs and some other members 
of the facades were invariably stained blue, the 
mouldings and other details red ; while the larger 
parts of the entablature seem to have been uni- 
formly left plain. In an excavated tomb with a 
Doric portico, there was found a series of beautiful 
little subjects painted on the frieze of an interior 
facade, each composition occupying one of the me- 
topes. The outline of these highly-finished groups 
has been very carefully put in with red ; the lo- 
cal colour of the flesh and the draperies has then 
been filled in with body-colours, and the lights 
touched on sharp with a full and free pencil, greatly 
resembling the fine execution of the paintings at 
Herculaneum and Pompeii. 

No object at Cyrene appeared more interesting 
than the Fountain of Apollo, whence issues a stream 
well calculated to refresh the weary traveller. At 
the foot of the hill which supplies the water is an 
excavated chamber, from which there is an opening 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 187 

cut into the interior of the rock, to a distance not 
yet ascertained ; and along this channel the cur- 
rent flows with great rapidity, till it precipitates 
itself into a basin formed to receive it on a level 
with the floor of the apartment. On one side of 
the cascade are two cellars, or rather one di- 
vided into two parts ; and in the farther section is a 
second basin, sunk below the level of the chamber, 
which appears to have originally communicated with 
the stream by means of a small aperture in the rock 
just above it. This reservoir, it is thought, must 
have been originally devoted to the service of the 
priests, who had the charge of the sacred fountain, 
in the performance of their religious ceremonies. 
Nearly opposite to it is what appears to be the prin- 
cipal entrance, where was found a tablet broken into 
two pieces, and also the fragment of a fluted column. 
On the former, which is of white marble, are sculp- 
tured three female figures in excellent style, and 
finished with all the delicacy and taste of the most 
refined periods. In front of the approach, two por- 
ticos appear to have been erected ; and on a part of 
the cliff, at right angles with the face of the precipice, 
is an inscription in Doric Greek recording the name 
of the founder. 

The channel or passage, we are told, is formed 
entirely in the rock from which the stream issues, 
and continues in an irregular course more than a 
quarter of a mile into the heart of the mountain. 
The sides and roof of it are flat, where time and the 
action of the current have not corroded the surface ; 
but the bottom is encumbered with stones bedded 
fast in the clay. The height in general was about 
five feet ; though in some places where there appear 



188 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

to have originally been flaws or fissures in the stone, 
the roof was so much raised as to enable the visiters 
to stand upright. After advancing about thirteen 
hundred feet, it becomes so low that a man cannot 
proceed farther without creeping upon his hands 
and knees, and then finishes in a small aperture 
scarcely a foot in diameter, beyond which it is not 
possible to proceed.* 

Captain Beechey mentions a singular fact as 
to inscriptions found on the sides of the channel 
into which he and his friends had adventured. 
They observed that the clay, washed down in con- 
siderable quantities by the current, was occasionally 
plastered against the sides, and smoothed very care- 
fully with the palm of the hand. In this they 
thought they perceived something like letters, which 
upon a more minute examination they discovered 
to be sentences in the Greek language ; several of 
which, from their dates, must have remained on the 
wet clay more than fifteen hundred years. The 
preservation of these, says the gallant author, " may 
certainly be accounted for by the dampness of the 
place, and its extreme seclusion, which would con- 
spire to prevent the clay from cracking and drop- 
ping off, and from being rubbed off by intruders ; 
but we were not prepared to meet with inscriptions 
engraved on so yielding a substance, and certainly 
not to find that, having once been written, they 
should have remained on it down to the present 
day, as perfect as when they were left there by those 

* " The mouth of this fountain," says Delia Cella, " is very in- 
geniously excavated, and is connected with a tunnel extending- far 
into the heart of the hill, into which I penetrated a few yards, not- 
withstanding the assurances of my guides that it was the usual resi- 
dence of malignant spirits." 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 189 

whose visit they were intended to commemorate. 
They consist, of course, chiefly in a collection of 
names, many of which are Roman ; and the earliest 
of the most conspicuous dates which we remarked 
and copied (for it would take whole days to read 
and copy them all), were those of the reign of Dio- 
clesian. We could collect no other facts from those 
which we read, than that a priest appears to have 
officiated at the fountain after Cyrene became a 
Roman colony, whose name and calling are usually 
written after the name of the visiter. They are, in 
general, very rudely scratched with a point of any 
kind, — a sword or knife perhaps, or the stone of a 
ring,— and often with the point of the fingers. We 
observed a few Arabic inscriptions among the rest ; 
but were so much occupied in reading over the Greek 
ones, in order to gain some intelligence respecting 
the fountain, which might serve to throw light upon 
the period at which the channel was excavated, or 
other questions of interest, that we neglected to copy 
them. There is an appearance in one of the Greek 
inscriptions of an allusion to the name of Apollo, 
the deity to whom we suppose this fountain to have 
been sacred ; but the letters are not sufficiently clear 
to establish the fact decidedly, although we do not 
see what other sense could be given to the words in 
question with so much probability of being that 
which the writer intended ; and it is plain that the 
sentence, as it now stands, is incomplete. We could 
not succeed in finding any Greek dates of antiquity, 
although the Greek names are very numerous ; but 
a person accustomed to the many negligent ways of 
writing the character, with plenty of time and light 
at his disposal, might probably succeed in finding 



190 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

Greek inscriptions of more interest than we were able 
to discover in the mass of writing here alluded to,, — 
a great portion of which; as might naturally be ex- 
pected,, consists of rude scrawls and hasty scratches. 
That the fountain continued to be an object of cu- 
riosity, and probably of religious veneration, after 
the cession of the country to the Romans, may, 
however, be inferred from what we have stated ; 
and a minimum may at least be established with 
respect to the date of the excavated channel, if we 
cannot ascertain the precise time of its formation, 
or whether it was cut at one or several periods. 
Some hours had elapsed from the time of our en- 
tering to that of our reappearance ; and we really 
believe, that the Arabs of the place, who had col- 
lected themselves round the fountain to see us come 
out, were extremely disappointed to find that no 
accident had befallen any one of the party, in spite 
of the demons so confidently believed to haunt its 
dark and mysterious recesses."* 

Leaving Cyrene, the traveller whose face is 
turned towards Tripoli soon finds himself in the 
midst of beautiful scenery, and on the road to the 
magnificent plain of Merge, in which was situated 
the celebrated town of Barca, the second in import- 
ance of the whole Pentapolis. The path, deeply 
marked with chariot- wheels, and thereby indicating 

* Proceedings of the Expedition to explore the Northern Coast 
of Africa, &c. By Captain F. W. Beechey, R. N., F. R. S. 3 p. 551. 
Respecting the allusion to Apollo, Captain Beeche} T imagines " the 
words to have been \<7ri hgio; rou fAiynr*]ov AtfoXXavog, but the o; is 
wanting after A-raXXa/v, and the ^ in pzyitrrou ; in which latter 
word also the s and y look more like an a. and <r. The rest of the 
inscription is clear ; and were we only to give it as a fragment, 
ssn npios <rov . . . io-tov AvoXkav . . there would probably be no 
doubt* raised with respect to the manner of reading it." 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 191 

an extensive intercourse when occupied by civilized 
men, leads through valleys for the most part well 
cultivated, and ornamented with copses of pine, ce- 
dar, laurel, lauristinus, cypress, myrtle, box, arbutus, 
and numerous stately trees, which were flourishing 
in the greatest luxuriance. Among these the con- 
volvulus and honeysuckle twined themselves ; and 
red and white roses, marigolds, and other flowers, 
with a great variety of beautiful ferns, were every 
where scattered over the contiguous hills. The 
forms of the landscape were at the same time re- 
markably picturesque ; and here and there a ruin 
of some ancient fortress, towering above the wood 
on the edge of a precipice, contributed to give a ro- 
mantic character to the scene. 

Barca, though perhaps more ancient than the es- 
tablishment of the Greek colony, and unquestionably 
a place of much consequence, can now hardly be 
traced in the valley which it once adorned. Its 
name, which is supposed to be Phoenician, might, 
perhaps, justify the opinion of those who conjecture 
that it owed its original foundation to the brother 
of Dido, though Herodotus, as we have found, 
states expressly that it was built by the brothers of 
Arcesilaus, king of Cyrene, who, alienated from his 
court by some domestic broils, sought for themselves 
a new residence beyond the limits of his dominion. 
It was taken and plundered by the Persians under 
Amasis, who sent many of its inhabitants as pri- 
soners into the territory of his master; but the 
decay into which it finally sunk is understood to 
have had its origin in the rise of Ptolemeta, its sea- 
port, now usually ranked as one of the Five Cities. 
Strabo, Pliny, and some of the older geographers, 



192 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

assert that the town just named was erected upon 
the very spot where Barca had stood ; but Ptolemy 
with greater accuracy fixes the site of the one on 
the shore, and of the other at some distance in the 
interior. Scylax, in his Periplus, places the latter 
about 103 stadia or eight miles from its port, — a 
circumstance which, in the estimation of Delia Cella, 
tends to conciliate the discordant narratives of the 
ancient writers, and authorizes him to say, that he 
discovered the ruins of Barca at a situation in 
the plain of Merge, about two hours' walk from 
Ptolemeta, along a very steep path towards the 
south-east. These ruins consist of tombs, walls 
fallen down and scattered over a level space, and 
wells of very great depth, some of which still afford 
most excellent water.* 

The author of the " Expedition to explore the 
Northern Coast of Africa" remarks, that near the 
centre of Merge is a ruin now called Marabut Sidi, 
and also, that a few miles to the south-east of it are 
the remains of an inconsiderable town, which is said 
to have been built by a celebrated shereef, but of 
which, it is added, so little is now standing, that 
the plan of the buildings could not be satisfactorily 
ascertained. It is not improbable that this is the 
same place of which the Italian speaks with so much 
confidence, as the supposed site of Barca, — an infer- 
ence which derives no small plausibility from an 
examination of the physical properties of the soil 
and the features of the surrounding landscape, all 
agreeing, in most respects, with those ascribed to 



* Travels in Barbary, p. 217- Strabo, lib. xviL Plin. Hist 
Xatur. lib. v. c. 5. 

5 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 193 

the position of the ancient capital of this interesting 
territory.* 

The plain of Merge loses none of its beauties on 
the western side, where it borders on Ptolemeta, the 
Ptolemais of the Greek authors and Dolmeita of the 
modern Arabs. The vicinity of this town is wild 
and romantic in the extreme ; and on approaching 
it through a deep glen, one might imagine him- 
self transported to the charming secluded valleys 
of Switzerland or Savoy. It is true, that in the 
Cyrenaica, nature is on a less-extended scale, but it 
appears in a form not less captivating on that ac- 
count ; and were a person dropped into the eastern 
vale of Ptolemeta, he would never for a moment 
conjecture that he was in Africa, — that parched 
and desert region, so repulsive to the fancy of a Eu- 
ropean. This enchanting retreat rises gradually 
from the sea, winding through forests of pines and 
flowering shrubs, which thicken as the sides of the 
mountains become higher and more abrupt, till it 
loses itself in the precipitous part of the range that 
bounds it to the southward, and presents a dark 
barrier of wood shooting up into the clear blue sky. 
On reaching the opposite end of this verdant am- 
phitheatre a new scene appears. Among the trees 
which clothe the declivities of the hills are many 
handsome sarcophagi of Greek and Roman work- 
manship, all executed in stone, together with seats 
of the same material for the convenience of those 
who might choose to repair thither either to indulge 
their grief or to gratify their taste. 

The position of the town, it is observed, has been 
remarkably well chosen. In its front was the sea, 

* Beechey, p. 395. 

M 



194 



THE CYRENAICA AND PEXTAPOLIS. 



and on either side a ravine, where are still observed 
traces of fortifications which must have secured its 
flanks against any sudden attack : while the only 
passes by which it could be approached from the 
high ridge on the south, were defended by strong 
barriers drawn completely across them. Two bridges 
appear to have been thrown over each of these hol- 
lows, one of which is still somewhat entire. The 
streets sloping down gradually from the ground 
which forms the foot of the mountains, were thereby 
sheltered from the winds heated by the sand of the 
Desert. Captain Beechey is of opinion, that there 
is no place on the coast of Northern Africa, between 
Tripoli and Ptolemeta, which can be compared with 
the latter for beauty, convenience, and security of 
situation, — Lebida alone excepted. He observes, 
however, that when he arrived there, the greater 
part of the town was thickly overgrown with wild 
marigolds and camomile, to the height of four or five 
feet ; and patches of corn were here and there grow- 
ing even within the city- walls. The solitude of the 
ruins was not broken by animals of any description, 
except a small number of jackals and hyenas, which 
strayed down after sunset in search of water, and a 
few owls and bats, which started out from their re- 
treats when they heard the unwonted sound of the 
human voice.* 

It is reckoned that the walls of Ptolemeta, when 
entire, must have enclosed a quadrangle of 18,000 
English feet in circuit : and the portion which may 
still be traced from the existing remains surrounds 
a space of at least 13,000. A line drawn through 
the centre of the city from north to south, would be 



* Beechey. p. 3ti0. 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 195 

about 4800 feet in length, and that across it from 
east to west, would be about 4400. The whole cir- 
cumference of the town, accordingly, must have 
been somewhat less than three English miles and a 
half, its length rather short of a mile, and its breadth 
a little more than three quarters. 

Approaching from the west, there is seen an in- 
sulated gateway like a triumphal arch, overlooking 
the desolate ruins. An amphitheatre and two thea- 
tres are still visible ; the latter are close to the relics 
of a palace, of which only three columns are stand- 
ing ; and the former is constructed in a large quarry, 
in which the seats have been partly excavated, 
those portions only being built which could not 
be formed in the rock itself. The interior court of 
the palace is still covered with tesselated pavement, 
and beneath it are very spacious cisterns, regularly 
arched, communicating with each other, and re- 
ceiving air and light from the yard above. Bruce, 
who, though he confounded Ptolemeta with Teu- 
chira, was certainly here, imagined that the pil- 
lars belonging to this building were the remains 
of an Ionic temple, and even describes them as 
being executed in the best style of that order. 
Later travellers have questioned the accuracy of his 
conclusion, and deny that the appearance of the 
columns gives any countenance to the opinion he 
entertained. But were the resemblance to the early 
Ionic much greater than it really is, the existence 
of a Greek inscription, which is built into the base- 
ment of the columns, bearing the names of Cleopa- 
tra and Ptolemy Philometer, together with another 
turned upside down, mentioning that of Arsinoe 
conjointly with Ptolemy and Berenice, would pre- 

6 



196 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

vent the attributing to them an earlier date than 
the times of the sovereigns whose reigns are com- 
memorated.* 

At the north-eastern part of the town, there is a 
structure of very large dimensions, the outer walls 
of which are still standing to a considerable height ; 
but it is acknowledged that the plan of its interior 
is not sufficiently apparent to authorize any conjec- 
ture as to the purpose which it was meant to serve. 
On its northern face are three large quadrangular 
tablets of stone inserted into the wall, each five feet 
in length by four in breadth, on which are cut Greek 
inscriptions ; and to the westward and south-west- 
ward of this building are many interesting remains 
of private dwelling-houses, palaces, and baths. 

Signor Delia Cella, from the inspection of the style 
of architecture which prevails here, was induced to 
hold the belief that Ptolemeta must have had an 
Egyptian origin, or, at least, that many of its pub- 
lic edifices were erected during the period when 
Cyrenaica was subject to the rulers of the Nile. 
But it is maintained, on the contrary, by English 
travellers, that this city presents in its ruins nothing 
which is not either Greek or Roman ; and that the 
profusion of unnecessary ornament, which generally 
distinguished the later productions of both these na- 
tions, is very different from the manner of decora- 
tion observable in such remains as are truly Egyp- 
tian. It is not asserted, that there are no examples 
of good taste at this ancient city ; but it appears, 
that by far the greater part of the buildings now 
remaining have been constructed since it became a 
Roman colony, and that there are none to which a 

* Beechey, p. 358. 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLXS. 197 

higher antiquity can he assigned than the period at 
which the country was occupied by the Ptolemies. 

At the western extremity of the town, the at- 
tention is arrested by a large and very lofty dor- 
mitory, constructed on a basis of solid rock, which 
has been purposely insulated from the quarry in 
which it stands. It assumes the appearance of a 
stately tower, and forms a striking feature in the 
scenery about Ptolemeta, being seen from a consider- 
able distance. It is, indeed,, says Delia Cella, a 
magnificent monument, supported by a vast square 
base cut in the side of the hill. The entrance is of 
a triangular shape ; and within are several rows of 
cells for the reception of the dead. Supposing that 
Ptolemy Physcon, the first Egyptian sovereign of 
the Cyrenaica, laid the foundations of this town, the 
Doctor concludes that the mausoleum must have 
been raised by the same hands ; since it was use- 
less for the kings who preceded him to have tombs 
here, when their usual residence was in Egypt ; nor 
is it likely to have been erected after his time, be- 
cause it cannot be supposed that, with the feelings 
of his nation in respect to burial-places, he would 
submit to have a sepulchre undistinguished from 
those of his subjects.* 

Leaving these wrecks of former magnificence, the 
traveller still enjoys the delight of most beautiful 
scenery, as he makes his way to Teuchira, another 
member of the Cyrenaic Pentapolis. The name of 
this town was changed, when under the dominion 
of Egypt, to Arsinoe first, and afterwards to Cleo- 
patra ; but its original appellation has so far sur- 
vived the others as to appear in Tauchira or Tocra, 

* Proceedings, &c. p. 'dti4* Travels in Barbary, p. 215. 



198 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

the term applied to it by the modern Arabs. Its his- 
tory, indeed, occupies no conspicuous place, either in 
the annals of the Greeks or in those of the Moslem. 
The fortifications, which were repaired by the Em- 
peror Justinian, remain in a good state of preserva- 
tion ; being built of massy blocks of stone, many of 
which, from the inscriptions they bear, must evident- 
ly have formed a part of more ancient structures. 

Though situated near the shore, Teuchira could 
never have been a seaport, being much exposed to 
northern gales, and altogether incapable of receiv- 
ing any protection from the resources of art. Little 
now remains within the walls to engage the atten- 
tion of the architect or antiquary ; for, so complete 
has been the destruction of the houses, public and 
private, that the eye perceives nothing besides a 
mass of rubbish, and a few fragments of sculpture 
lying scattered around. The streets appear to have 
been built in squares, and to have crossed each 
other at right angles. One of these must have ex- 
tended from the eastern to the western gate ; and 
towards the centre of it there were found some co- 
lumns and the remains of an arch. In various 
other parts, to the north-east and south-west in par- 
ticular, there are imposing relics of fallen pillars 
and entablatures, which have doubtless belonged to 
sumptuous buildings. There are also some inte- 
resting fragments at the north-eastern angle of the 
city, where part of a quarry has been enclosed with- 
in the walls for the better defence of the place: 
a fortress has likewise been erected at the same 
point, in an elevated position, which appears to 
have been the stronghold of the garrison. It is sup- 
posed, that in former times there must have been 



THE CYRBNAICA AND PBNTAPOLIS. 199 

numerous statues in Teuchira; but few or none 
have escaped the barbarism of the Vandals,, and the 
ignorant fanaticism of those by whom they were 
succeeded as masters of the province.'* 

The ruins of two Christian churches are still dis- 
tinctly perceptible, in both of which the part devot- 
ed to the altar was on the eastern side. The exca- 
vated tombs which, after the manner of oriental ci- 
ties, abound in the neighbourhood, contain a variety 
of Greek inscriptions ; though it must be admitted 
that, as they are chiefly confined to names and 
dates, their interest is not very great. It is not un- 
worthy of remark, however, that in one of them 
was discovered an unquestionable proof of Egyptian 
ascendency ; the titles of the months being express- 
ed in the Coptic language, — the vernacular dialect of 
the Lower Nile. Many of these caverns, we are 
told, and probably the most ancient, are now bu- 
ried under a mass of drifted sand ; and among them 
it is not unlikely that some notices might be detect- 
ed both entertaining and instructive ; though such 
as were examined did not present any thing of 
sufficient importance to remunerate the toil and ex- 
pense necessary to open a passage into their interior. 
They appear, indeed, extremely rude compared 
with those of Cyrene and Egypt, and the inscrip- 
tions are, for the most part, very imperfectly cut. 
In general they have only one chamber, three sides 
of which are in some instances occupied by niches 
cut into the wall for the reception of bodies. In 
some of the tombs there are no places discernible 
for human remains, — a circumstance from which an 
inference has been drawn that the corpses must 

* Beechey, p. 371. 



200 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

have been burnt, and only the ashes reserved for 
the funereal mansion. There is no trace of em- 
balming to be discovered either at Teuchira or 
Ptolemeta ; no fragment of a cinerary urn, nor of 
vases of any description. The dampness of the cli- 
mate in the winter season would, no doubt, contri- 
bute very materially to the destruction of all these 
remains ; but the chief cause, unquestionably, why 
they have so entirely disappeared, is connected with 
the usages of the Arabs, who, in the rainy season, 
convert these dwellings of mortality into residences 
for themselves and their cattle. 45 " 

On the road to Bengazi, the ancient Berenice, 
there are many tokens of civilisation and improve- 
ment, now long neglected by the barbarian inhabit- 
ants. Walls, arches, doorways, and pieces of brok- 
en columns, attest the industry and skill of former 
ages, in places where rank grass and neglected 
shrubs now harbour numerous serpents. At Birsis 
and Mably, — under the latter of which denomina- 
tions the term Neapolis is supposed to be concealed, 
— there are various remains of buildings, which es- 
tablish the probability that nourishing towns once 
existed there, and enjoyed the benefits of an en- 
lightened government. The country around, too, is 
described as at once fertile and lovely, consisting of 
a plain expanding between the mountains and the 
shore, covered with flowers, and presenting every 
symptom of an inexhaustible soil. 

As Bengazi itself stretches still farther towards 
the north, the extent of the level ground between 
the sea and the hills is much increased, constitut- 
ing an uncommonly fine district, capable of sup- 

* Beechey, p. 3J3. 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 201 

porting a large population. But, though the situa- 
tion be excellent, the town itself is equally destitute 
of elegance and comfort. The houses are built after 
the manner usually followed by the Arabs, with 
rough stones and mud ; and in the wet season, ac- 
cordingly, nothing is more common than to see them 
melt down into a heap of moist earth. When a 
cabin falls, it is generally left in a state of ruin, and 
the family remove to some other spot, without trou- 
bling themselves farther about it ; the consequence 
is, we are told, that the streets are often nearly 
blocked up by mounds of this nature, which form 
in winter accumulations of mire, and in the dry 
weather scatter clouds of dust in the eyes of the 
passengers. There is, however, nothing peculiar to 
Bengazi in the scene now described, for every Arab 
town and village presents, more or less, a similar 
spectacle. 

With so many objects to attract them, it cannot 
be surprising that such a place should be proverbial 
for flies ; and, in fact, we find travellers asserting 
that, among the various annoyances with which the 
place abounds, these are, perhaps, the most serious 
of any, or, at all events, those from which it is least 
possible to escape. They follow you every where, 
settle on any part of the arms, legs, and body, which 
the heat of the weather obliges you to leave unco- 
vered ; creep obstinately into the corners of the eyes 
and up the nostrils, into the hollows of the ears, and 
often fly down the throat, nearly choking you, should 
the mouth happen to be open. At meals, every part 
of the dishes and their contents are covered with them 
as soon as they are produced; and every fluid becomes 
a trap for as many of these creatures as can crowd 



202 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 



upon its surface. In short, says Captain Beechey, 
there is literally no riding or walking, no reading or 
writing, no eating or resting one's self in any part of 
Bengazi in comfort for them ; and if at night they 
take up their accustomed position on the ceiling, and 
give place to the fleas and musquitoes, the first dawn 
of morning finds them on the wing, and all alive to 
recommence their operations.* 

The harbour, which was at one time safe and 
capacious, cannot now admit vessels drawing more 
than seven or eight feet of water ; while the fortifi- 
cations, originally constructed to defend it, are so 
miserably decayed, that, when a British ship lately 
approached it, the Bey requested that the usual salu- 
tation might be dispensed with, lest the concussion 
should bring down the walls. Its chief protection, 
therefore, is supplied by a reef of rocks, which nar- 
rows the passage so much that no stranger can en- 
ter it without the aid of a pilot. 

There is not a single place of amusement or public 
resort in any part of this gloomy town ; its inhabit- 
ants idling or sleeping away the greater portion of 
their time, without appearing to entertain the slight- 
est desire of improving their condition or of enliven- 
ing the monotony of their pursuits. As the religion 
and laziness of a Turk equally prompt him to depend 
more upon the interposition of Providence than up- 
on his own exertions, he uses no means, and rarely 
has recourse to any precautions ; and hence, centuries 
after centuries may pass away without witnessing 
any advancement in knowledge, any redress of griev- 
ances, or any progress in the arts which bless and 
adorn human life. Bengazi is said to contain about 

* Proceedings, &c. p. 285-287- 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 203 

2000 inhabitants,, a large proportion of whom are 
Jews and negro slaves ; but the number of persons 
actually residing in the place is continually varying., 
owing to the circumstance that many remove to the 
country whenever the weather permits,, to establish 
themselves in tents made of palm-trees. The He- 
brews are a persecuted race, but uniformly steady 
in the pursuit of riches. As usually happens in 
Mohammedan states, they are the principal mer- 
chants and tradesmen ; and their unremitted indus- 
try alone enables them to meet the heavy exactions 
which are made upon their property by the adherents 
of the prophet. 

The site now occupied by this dirty town was, as 
we have already said, formerly covered by Berenice, 
and in still more ancient times by Hesperis ; but of 
these famed cities very few remains now appear 
above ground, to interest the sculptor, the architect, 
or the antiquary. This total absence of columns 
and statues is ascribed to a common practice of the 
Arabs, who, in building their huts, break into small 
pieces such of the stones belonging to the old edifices 
as are too large to suit their purpose. Many a noble 
frieze and cornice, and many a well-proportioned 
capital, has been crushed under the hammers of these 
barbarians. Extensive ruins are still found about 
Bengazi, a little under the surface of the ground ; and, 
accordingly, whenever a house is to be erected, the 
proprietor, in order to obtain materials, has nothing 
more to do than to send a few men to excavate in the 
neighbourhood, where they are sure to find a various 
and abundant quarry. On the beach, to the north- 
eastward of the village, where a mound twenty or 
thirty feet in height is formed of the debris of the 



204 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 



original town, coins and gems are frequently washed 
down in rainy weather ; and, after storms especially, 
the inhabitants repair to the shore, and sift the earth 
which falls from this bank, in search of a treasure on 
which Europeans have taught them to place a high 
and in some instances an imaginary value.* 

Perhaps the most interesting object in this ro- 
mantic vicinity are the celebrated Gardens of the 
Hesperides, so long famed in song, and so often de- 
scribed as the only earthly paradise left to the pos- 
session of the human race. Along the shore there 
are some natural chasms or ravines, covered with 
beautiful shrubs and trees, and having at the bottom 
a level surface of excellent soil, several hundred feet 
in extent ; so that a person walking over the country 
comes suddenly upon a delightful orchard, blooming 
in secret, and in the greatest luxuriance. The effect 
of these secluded spots, protected, as it were, from 
the intrusion of mankind by the steepness and depth 
of the barriers which enclose them, is singular and 
pleasing in the extreme. 

This situation corresponds perfectly with the de- 
scription of the Hesperides given by Scylax, who 
represents them as a sequestered spot of about two 
stadia, or the fifth part of a mile, across, filled with 
fruit-trees of various kinds, and inaccessible on all 
sides. He farther relates, that their distance from 
the port of Earca was 620 stadia, or rather more than 
sixty of our miles, — a space which agrees very well 
with the journey from Ptolemeta, the harbour to 
which he alluded. But all doubt as to the locality 
ought to be removed by the fact that Bengazi was 
once called Hesperides, or Hesperis, — a circumstance 

* Eeechey, p. 31(5. 



THE CYRBNAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 205 

which is attested by the high authority of Ptolemy 
the geographer, Pliny, and Stephanus. Not far from 
Berenice, writes the Roman naturalist, is the river 
Lethon, and the sacred grove where the Gardens of 
the Hesperides are said to be placed.* 

The first position of these happy retreats was 
supposed to be at the western extremity of Libya, 
being then the farthest boundary of human know- 
ledge in the direction of the setting sun. The ideas 
with which they were always associated, — a circuit of 
blooming verdure amid the Desert, — were calculated 
to make a deep impression on the lively fancy of the 
Greeks. There was suggested also the image of 
islands, which ever after adhered to these vision- 
ary creations. As the first spot became frequent- 
ed, it was soon stripped of its fabled beauty ; but as 
so pleasing a notion was not to be easily relinquish- 
ed, another was quickly found for it ; and every tra- 
veller, as he discovered a new portion of that fertile 
and beautiful coast, fondly imagined that he had at 
length arrived at the long-sought-for Islands of the 
Blest. In the end, when the continent had been 
examined in vain, they were transferred to the ocean 
which washes its western shores. The Canaries, ac- 
cordingly, having never been passed nor even fully 
explored, continued to be the Fortunate Islands, 
not from any peculiar felicity of soil or climate, but 
merely because distance and imperfect knowledge 
left full scope to poetical fancy. We find Horace 
painting their delights and the happiness of their 
possessors in the most glowing language ; describing 
them as a refuge still left for mortals from that 
troubled and imperfect enjoyment which they were 

* Ptol. Africa*, tab. iii. Hist. Nat lib. v. c 5. 



206 THE CYRENAICA AND PEXTAPOLIS. 



doomed to experience in every other quarter of this 
terrestrial globe.* 

As Captain Beech ey is entitled to the honour of 
having discovered or identified the pleasant hermit- 
age mentioned by ancient authors, we give the con- 
cluding part of the narrative in his own words : 
" We have shown/' says he, " that the nature of 
the ground in the neighbourhood of Berenice (or 
Bengazi) is consistent with the account of Scylax ; 
and that places like those which he has so minutely 
described, are actually to be found in the territory 
where he has laid down the gardens. This singular 
formation, so far as we have seen, is also peculiar to 
the country in question ; and we know of no other 
part of the coast of Northern Africa where the same 
peculiarities of soil are observable. We do not mean 
to point out any one of these subterranean gardens 
as that which is described in the passage quoted 
from Scylax; for we know of no one which will 
correspond, in point of extent, to the garden which 
this writer has mentioned ; all of those which we 
saw were considerably less than a fifth of a mile in 
diameter ; and the places of this nature which would 
best agree with the dimensions in question, are now 
filled with water sufficiently fresh to be drinkable, 
and take the form of romantic little lakes. Scarcely 
any two of the gardens we met with, however, were 
of the same depth or extent ; and we have no rea- 
son to conclude, that because we saw none that were 
large enough to be fixed upon for the Garden of the 
Hesperides, as it is described in the statement of 
Scylax, there is therefore no place of the dimensions 

* Murray's Account of Discoveries and Travels in Africa, vol. i. 
p. 8. Horat. lib. i, ode 10; lib. iv. ode 8. Epod. 17- 



THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 207 

required among those which escaped our notice ; 
particularly as the singular formation we allude to 
continues to the foot of the Cyrenaic range, which 
is fourteen miles distant in the nearest part from 
Bengazi. At any rate, under the circumstances 
which are already before the reader, it will not be 
considered a visionary or a hastily- formed assump- 
tion, if we say that the position of these celebrated 
spots, long the subject of eager and doubtful inquiry, 
may be laid down with some probability in this 
neighbourhood. The remarkable peculiarities of this 
part of Northern Africa correspond (in our opinion) 
sufficiently well with the authorities already quoted 
to justify the conclusion we have drawn from an in- 
spection of the ground, and to induce us to place 
the Gardens of the Hesperides in some one or other 
of the recesses described, rather than in any of the 
oases of the Desert, as suggested by M. Gossellin 
and others/'* 

The variety of position assigned by ancient writers 
to these fairy scenes, is referable, perhaps, not to any 
precise geographical data, but to the operation of 
certain secret propensities deeply lodged in the hu- 
man breast. There arises involuntarily in the heart 
of man a longing after forms of being, happier and 
more beautiful than any presented by the creation 
before him, — bright scenes, which he seeks and never 
finds in the circuit of real existence. But imagina- 
tion easily creates them, in that dim boundary which 
separates the known from the unknown world. In 
the first discoveries of any such region, novelty 
usually produces an exalted state of the imagination 
and passions, under the influence of which every 

* Proceedings, &c. p. 325. 



208 THE CYRENAICA AND PENTAPOLIS. 

object is painted in brighter colours than those of 
nature. Nor does the illusion .cease when a fuller 
examination proves that, in the place thus assigned, 
no such beings or objects exist. The soul, as long as 
it remains possible, still clings to its fond chimeras. 
It quickly transfers them to the yet unknown re- 
gion beyond ; and, when driven from thence, dis- 
covers others still more remote in which it can take 
refuge. Thus we observe these enchanted spots 
successively retreating before the progress of dis- 
covery, yet finding, in the farthest advance that an- 
cient knowledge ever made, some more distant posi- 
tion to which they could fly.* 

Having laid before our readers all the more inte- 
resting notices which respect this fine country, ori- 
ginally colonized by the Greeks, and long possessed 
by the subjects of Rome and Grand Cairo, we pro- 
ceed to give a brief account of the provincial capital 
itself and its more immediate dependencies. 

* Gossellin, Geographie Ancienne. Malte Brun, Histoire de la 
Geographie, quoted in Historical Account of Discoveries and Tra- 
vels in Africa, vol. i. p. 7» 



TRIPOLI, &C. 



CHAPTER, VI. 
Tripoli and its immediate Dependencies. 

Ancient Limits of the Pashalic — Great Syrtis seldom visited — Delia 
Cella and the Beecheys — Ghimines — Forts and Ruins — Tabilba 
— Remains of a Castle — Curious Arch — Braiga, a Seaport and 
strongly garrisoned — Thought to be the ancient Automata— 
Sachrin, the southern Point of the Gulf— Shape of the Bay — 
Cato, Lucan, and Sallust — Muktar — Hudia — Linoof— Mahiriga 
— Fortress— Tower of Bengerwad — Supposed to be that of Eu- 
phrantas — Charax — Medinet Sultan — Shuaisha — Hamed Ga- 
roosh — ZafFran — Habits of the Natives — Their Dress — The 
Aspis of Ancient Writers — Gi raff— Cape Triero — Mesurata — 
Salt-marshes— Gulf of Zuca — Lebida — Ruins — Narrative of Cap- 
tain Smyth — Tagiura — Fertility — Tripoli — Appearance — Tri- 
poli believed to be of Moorish Origin — Old Tripoli destroyed by 
the Saracens — Opinion of Leo Africanus — Favourable Judgment 
formed by Mr Blaquiere — Moral Character of the Tripolines 
— Statement by the Author of Tully's Letters — Description 
of Tripoli by Captain Beechey — Pasha's Castle — Mosques — 
Triumphal Arch — Inhabitants divided into Moors and Arabs 
— Manner in which the Turks spend their Time — Peculiar 
Mode of conducting Conversation — Bedouins — Their Dress 
and Manners — The Pianura or Fertile Plain — Visit to the 
Castle — Magnificence of the Apartments — Pasha's principal 
Wife — Mode of Salutation — Refreshments — History of Tripoli 
. — Knights of Malta — Rajoot Rais — Admiral Blake— Sir John 
Narborough — Revolution by Hamet the Great — The Atrocities 
which attended it — Fezzan — Siwah — Augila — Marabouts — 
Scene witnessed by Captain Lyon — Drunkenness — Languages 
spoken at Tripoli. 

The proper limits of this pashalic, towards the east, 
might perhaps be fixed with perfect accuracy at 
the border of the desert which separates it from 

N 



210 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



Cyrenaica and the minor dependencies of Egypt. 
It is true that the territory of Barca, including all 
the fine lands which lie along the coast, is at present 
subjected to the ruler of Tripoli, whose authority is 
partially acknowledged to the very extremity of 
Marmarica. But it is not less manifest, at the 
same time, that the ancient boundaries of the Car- 
thaginian State, of which the three cities, Oea, 
Leptis, and Sabrata, made a part, did not extend 
beyond the remoter verge of the Great Syrtis, — the 
point marked by the romantic legend of the Phi- 
lseni, — where the provinces governed by Cyrene 
may be conceived to have begun. 

The dreary space which intervenes between the 
eastern termination of the Gulf and Cape Mesurata 
has been seldom trodden in modern times by the 
foot of a European. Delia Cella, the medical gentle- 
man whose work has been so often quoted, attended 
the son of the pasha on an expedition to the Bay of 
Bomba ; accompanying the army during the whole 
of their march across the Desert, and sharing deeply 
in the sufferings and privations which are inseparable 
from such an undertaking. Captain Beechey, also, 
with his brother and two other officers, performed, 
at a somewhat later period, a similar journey; hav- 
ing been appointed by the Admiralty to examine 
the line of coast from Tripoli to Derna, and if 
possible to Alexandria. Although the travellers, in 
both instances, proceeded from west to east, we 
shall; according to the plan already adopted, ar- 
range our details as if advancing from Bengazi to- 
wards the capital ; after which, conceiving that the 
connexion with Egypt, on which we have founded 
our scheme, shall have been sufficiently consulted, 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 



211 



we will commence our descriptions at the seat of 
each respective government. 

Ghimines, then, is the first station southwards of 
Bengazi which presents any thing worthy of atten- 
tion. There are found the remains of several an- 
cient forts, some of which must have been con- 
structed on a peculiar plan. They are built of large 
stones of very unequal size, put together without 
any cement, and made to fit into one another in the 
manner which has been called Cyclopian. Their 
form is a square with the angles rounded off, and 
some of them are filled with earth, well beaten 
down to within six or eight feet of the top, the up- 
per part of the wall being left as a parapet to the 
terrace thus composed in the interior. In the centre 
of this artificial mound are sometimes observed the 
traces of buildings, the roofs of which must have 
been higher than the outer walls ; and a space seems 
in all cases to have been left between these central 
chambers and the parapet, in which the garrison 
might place themselves when defending the fort. 
An opening like a window was noticed in one of 
the castles, which may have been used for drawing 
up those who entered it, as there was no other in- 
let whatever. The most of these structures have 
been surrounded with a trench, on the outer side of 
which there is generally a low wall strongly built 
with large stones. Some of them, which have been 
excavated in the solid rock, are of considerable depth 
and width ; and, in one instance, chambers were 
observed carefully dug in the sides of the trench. 
In this case, the ditch is about twenty-five feet broad 
and fifteen deep, the fortress itself being 125 in 
length and ninety in width. The form is quad- 



212 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



rangular ; and in the centre of each of its sides is a 
projection, sloping outward from the top, twenty 
feet in length by twelve, which appears to have 
served at once as a tower and buttress. 

No object of much consequence appears between 
Ghimines and Tabilba, supposed to be the site of 
what Ptolemy calls the cc Maritime Stationes." 
Here are found the remains of a castle ; and on the 
hill just above it are the ruins of a very strong for- 
tification connected with it by a wall five feet thick, 
carried quite round the precipice on which it is 
erected. This was defended on the side towards the 
land by a fosse thirty feet wide, dug out in the solid 
stone. The interior of the rock on which the castle 
stands has been excavated into numerous galleries 
and chambers, which seem to have answered the 
purpose of barracks. In one of these are several 
Greek inscriptions, written with ink on the walls, 
in what may be called the running-hand of the 
Lower Empire. In other parts were tombs likewise 
fabricated in the solid mass, some of which were 
entered by a quadrangular well, after the manner 
of those common in Egypt. In the wall fronting 
the south there was observed, among the rubbish 
which encumbered it, part of an arch, constructed 
without a key-stone, of square blocks arranged so 
as to touch each other at the bottom, and having 
the interstices above filled with a very durable ce- 
ment. Examples of similar arches were found in 
various parts of the Syrtis, as well as of the Cyre- 
naica, denoting the great antiquity of the buildings 
to which they are attached. 

Proceeding along the coast, amid various ruins 
and salt-water lakes, the traveller reaches Braiga, a 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 213 

seaport- town. Judging from the remains of several 
spacious fortresses, we may conclude that this at one 
time must have been a strongly-garrisoned place. 
In a subterranean chamber were seen the represen- 
tation of a ship and of a palm-tree, sketched on the 
surface of the cement, which is still as smooth and 
perfect as the day it was first wrought. The ground 
about this excavation, and indeed the whole neigh- 
bourhood, was strewed with fragments of pottery 
and glass ; among which was picked up a brass coin 
of Augustus Caesar in very good condition. On 
the contiguous hills, too, are the vestiges of sundry 
forts of the usual quadrangular form, and construct- 
ed of large stones very regularly shaped, — all prov- 
ing that Braiga must have been a military station 
of considerable importance. Captain Beechey is dis- 
posed to identify it with the Automala of Strabo, 
although he admits that its position does not pre- 
cisely coincide with the description given by the 
great geographer, who places it at the most southern 
point of the gulf, from which it is now distant a few 
miles. But, except this town, as he justly remarks, 
there are no ruins on that part of the coast which 
can be supposed to represent the ancient Automala, 
the remains of which could not, in any circum- 
stances, have entirely disappeared. 

Sachrin is, properly speaking, the bottom of the 
gulf ; and few parts of the world, we are told, could 
present so truly desolate and wretched an appear- 
ance as its shores in this neighbourhood are found 
to exhibit. Marsh, sand, and barren rocks alone 
meet the eye, and not a single human being, or a 
trace of vegetation, is to be seen in any direction. 
The stillness of the night was not broken even by 



214 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



the howlings of the jackal or hyena; and it seemed, 
says Captain Beechey, ec as if all the animated por- 
tion of creation had agreed in the utter hopelessness 
of inhabiting it to any advantage." 

The form assumed by the southern point of the 
gulf, or Greater Syrtis, is very different from that 
commonly represented in maps. Instead of the 
narrow inlet in which it is usually made to termi- 
nate, there was seen a wide extent of coast, sweep- 
ing due east and west, with as little variation as 
possible. The chart ascribed to Ptolemy is the only 
one extant which approaches to any thing like the 
actual line of the shore ; and every step which mo- 
dern geographers have receded from this authority 
has been a step farther from the truth. It is de- 
serving of remark, however, that though the shape 
of the bay at its southern extremity has been very 
incorrectly laid down by recent cosmographers, the 
latitude assigned to it is perfectly exact. Very 
erroneous notions, tco, have been inherited from the 
ancients in regard to the nature of the soil adjoin- 
ing the Syrtis. Cato is described as leading his 
army through deep and burning sands ; and Lucan 
has given so exaggerated an account of the same 
march, as to make his description almost wholly 
imaginary. Sailust also, in his story of the Phi- 
lseni, speaks of the level and sandy plain in which 
their monuments were erected, without either river 
or mountain by which the boundaries of the two 
countries might be marked. But we are assured, 
that there is not now any plain of this description 
at the bottom of the gulf ; and, on the other hand, 
that though there is no river, there is a range of 
hills not less than six hundred feet in height. These 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 215 

discrepancies, however, must not be held sufficient to 
invalidate the testimony of respectable authors. On 
a low coast, composed of loose materials and often 
beaten by a high sea and violent gales, there will 
necessarily occur many changes of outline ; the shal- 
lows are filled up, and new inroads are made upon 
the land ; and hence the narrow wedge-formed inlet, 
mentioned by Strabo as characterizing the bottom 
of the gulf, may have long since disappeared, either 
owing to the Mediterranean having advanced upon 
its southern shore, as is found elsewhere to be the 
case, or by the action of the desert-winds loaded 
with clouds of sand. 

Muktar, the next place in succession, is esteemed 
the boundary of the districts of Sert and Barca, the 
line being marked, though rather indistinctly, by 
small piles of loose stones. It seems still to enjoy a 
trade in sulphur, which is brought to the coast from 
mines situated in the Desert, and finally conveyed 
to Braiga, where it is exported. The route of the 
traveller in this desolate land presents very little 
variety, being confined to a range of sand-hills and 
salt-lakes, which invite no inhabitants, rational or 
irrational, to disturb the solitude. Passing Hudia 
and Linoof, the weary pilgrim arrives at Mahiriga, 
where are again discovered the vestiges of civilisa- 
tion. A quadrangular building, similar to those 
already described, occupies the summit of an emi- 
nence near the sea. No traces remain of its exter- 
nal roof, but part of an arched one is still visible on 
the ground-floor within, which, from its inferior 
workmanship, may be attributed to a later age. 
Marks of walls are also seen in the inside of the 
building, which have formerly divided it into chain- 



216 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



bers ; though in this case, too. the execution is ex- 
tremely rude, and denotes a very low condition of 
the arts. This fortress is surrounded by a wall about 
a yard in thickness, enclosing a considerable area ; 
but there is nothing resembling a trench. Neither is 
there any appearance of an entrance in the whole 
exterior of the structure, the height of which, even 
to the top of the turrets, is now not more than 
fifteen or twenty feet. 

At the Cape of Bengerwad is a tower, which Cap- 
tain Beechey imagines must be that of Euphrantas, 
mentioned by Strabo ; and at no great distance are 
certain ruins, which he is inclined to identify with 
the town of Charax, commemorated by the same geo- 
grapher. Owing to the cliff on which it stood hav- 
ing given way, the greater part of the building has 
fallen down upon the beach ; but though, in conse- 
quence of this accident, little of the plan can be sa- 
tisfactorily made out, it is clear that it must have 
been a stronghold of no small importance. On both 
sides it would command an extensive view of the 
sea, and it still overlooks many remains of edifices 
scattered over the plain in its rear. This sit uation, in- 
deed, appears so well calculated, both by nature and 
art, for the establishment of a boundary-] ine, that the 
fort is regarded as having been the main defence on 
the common limits of Carthage and Cyrene in the 
time of the Ptolemies. In fact, the tower of Euph- 
rantas is so described by Strabo ; and of all the ruined 
fortresses on this portion of the Greater Syr t is, no 
one accords so aptly with the delineation of that 
learned author, as the lofty structure at Bengerwad. 
Still, so little is said by the Greek writers respecting 
the buildings along the margin of the gulf, that it 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 



217 



must be always extremely difficult to assign any 
other name to the relics of forts and towns, than 
those by which the Arabs of the country are now 
pleased to distinguish them. Charax is pointed out 
by the great geographer as occurring, after the tower 
just described, to a person travelling from west to 
east ; but, before the position of this town can be as- 
certained, it will be necessary to decide upon that of 
Euphrantas, which, in a district presenting a conti- 
nued chain of forts from one end to the other, can- 
not be easily accomplished. 

Medinet Sultan has also been an important mili- 
tary station, as may be inferred from the extensive 
fortifications, of which it still presents the outlines. 
Though the plan of the buildings be in a great 
measure perfect, that of the walls could not be satis- 
factorily made out. Within a quadrangular enclosure 
is a subterranean storehouse or reservoir, which ap- 
pears to have been first excavated in the soil, then 
formed with rough stones, and, lastly, coated with an 
excellent cement, yet remaining almost wholly entire. 
There are several chambers, in some of which it was 
hoped inscriptions might be obtained, indicating the 
date and purpose of the work ; but in this respect 
curiosity was altogether disappointed, no writing 
being discovered except a few scrawls in the Arabic 
character. In the neighbourhood are the remains of 
the town itself, which continues to retain the proud 
title of Medina, or The City, where, however, its 
greatness has no other memorial besides some good 
wells and tanks, — a valuable distinction, no doubt, 
in all parts of Northern Africa. 

Having passed Shuaisha and Hamed Garoosh, 
the country assumes a more pleasant aspect. The 



218 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



hills are higher, and the valleys better cultivated. 
Flocks of sheep and goats also begin to appear ; and 
the sportsman finds hares, plovers, quails, curlews, 
and wild ducks. But the traveller, amidst the me- 
lancholy waste, perceives nothing to awaken his re- 
collection or amuse his fancy until he reach Zaffran, 
one of the most agreeable stages on the long jour- 
ney from Bengazi to Tripoli. Delia Cella describes 
it as adorned with meadows, full of an elegant spe- 
cies of ranunculus, with very large and white 
flowers, and abundantly supplied with good water. 
Fragments of hewn stone, also, occasionally ob- 
served among the sand, gave proof that this part of 
the coast must at one time have been inhabited ; 
and, indeed, Strabo mentions several ports near the 
bottom of the gulf, the site of which corresponds not 
inaptly with that of the ruins, which may still be 
detected by a careful eye. But the labour of iden- 
tifying ancient towns, in a country so little known 
to the Greeks and Romans, has not hitherto been 
attended with any degree of success. Even in mo- 
dern times, this portion of Africa is usually avoided 
by travellers, who, unless escorted by a strong mi- 
litary force, and armed with despotic power over 
the persons and property of the natives, would find 
it impossible to traverse their wild domains. 

The Arabs who occupy the pasture -lands on the 
eastern limits of the Barcean Desert are still in a 
very low degree of civilisation. The men pass their 
lives in the most complete idleness, stretched out in 
their tents, or seated with their heads between their 
knees, incessantly chewing tobacco and small bits of 
natron, which they procure from the interior, and 
is supposed to be that singular species of lami- 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 



219 



nated carbonate of soda, which is found two days' 
journey from Fezzan, and annually brought in large 
quantities to Tripoli. It is somewhat remarkable 
that the same mineral is gathered near the lake of 
Salaguarilla, in the province of Venezuela, in South 
America, and is used by the inhabitants of the coun- 
try in the mastication of tobacco, in a manner very 
similar to that followed in the northern shores of 
Africa. Spinning and weaving camlets are the or- 
dinary occupations of the women, who are said to be 
very awkward at their work. The art is so little 
improved, that their instruments are exactly the 
same as they were in the age when they were first 
invented. The piece of stuff which is woven upon 
them looks more like matting than woollen cloth ; 
but, owing to the excellent quality of the materials, 
it is extremely soft, and feels like plush. They are 
equally ignorant in the art of spinning, and of pre- 
paring the wool. Seated upon the ground, they put 
a heap of it under their feet, and, seizing a tuft of 
it, pass it between their toes, pulling and tearing it 
upwards till they fasten it to a sort of spindle, round 
which they wind the coarse thick yarn which they 
thus produce.* 

The inhabitants of Zaffran are Bedouins, as are 
those of all the parts of the Syrtis, — there not being 
a single inhabited town or village between Mesu- 
rata and Bengazi. We found them, says Captain 
Beechey, hospitable and obliging, and never entered 
one of their tents without receiving a cordial recep- 
tion ; their simple fare of milk and dates was always 
freely offered, and our horses were regaled with a 
feed of corn, which they usually found very accept- 



* Travels, &c. p. 109. 



220 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



able. Fresh milk was not always to be had ; but 
they were never without a good supply of leban 
(sour-milk, or, more properly, butter-milk) ; and we 
were seldom unwilling to alight from our saddles to 
take a draught of this patriarchal beverage, which 
a long dav's hard riding, through a countrv without 
roads, and under the influence of an African sun, 
made infinitely more palatable than will easily be 
imagined by those who can spare it for their pigs.* 

The men are said to be healthy and active, and 
the females pretty and well behaved. The dress of 
the former consists merely of a coarse baracan, with 
a red cap, and sandals of camel's hide. The women 
wear a loose cotton shirt under the baracan, and, 
instead of the sandals, are furnished with laced boots. 
They have, as usual, a profusion of rude ornaments, 
and charms to avert the evil eye, and are not a little 
anxious to keep their faces veiled, or to avoid the 
societv of strangers. 

The seabeach in this neighbourhood presents a 
very singular and even formidable appearance, oc- 
casioned by large blocks of stone thrown ashore and 
piled up by the force of the waves. The apparent 
regularity in which these masses are heaped upon 
one another, suggests, at first view, the idea that they 
were intentionally placed there for the purpose of a 
breakwater ; but the long extent of the ranges soon 
exposes the improbability of this supposition, and 
leaves no doubt as to the real cause by which the 
phenomenon has been produced. The roar and con- 
fusion which a moderate gale of wind produces here, 
are such as in other places will be seldom found to 
accompany the most violent weather. 

* Proceedings, &c. p. 165. 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 221 

Zaffran is considered as the Aspis of ancient 
writers, and Merza Zaffran as the port of that city. 
From certain facts and measurements mentioned by 
Edrisi, Leo Africanus, and others, it is supposed 
that Sert, a celebrated town, must have stood at 
no great distance. But the argument on which 
these conclusions are founded is much too minute 
to be introduced here, and is besides of very little 
interest to the general reader. Nor do the difficul- 
ties which beset the antiquary in this instance re- 
ceive any aid from the chronologer ; for an equal 
darkness hangs over the names and dates of most of 
the places which arrest the attention of a European 
between Mesurata and the Pentapolis. It is con- 
jectured, indeed, with some show of reason, that the 
majority of them were erected by the Romans dur- 
ing the imperial government, as they possessed at 
various times the whole of the northern coast of 
Africa, and maintained an extensive communica- 
tion along the shores the Mediterranean, and even 
with the lands beyond the Desert. 

At Giraff a salt marsh or lake commences, which 
continues nearly to the termination of the Greater 
Syrtis. The scenery is extremely wild and desolate, 
exhibiting little besides mounds of sand, and ruins 
of which the very names have perished. At Arar 
were found some wells excavated in a bed of sand- 
stone, containing the exuviae of marine animals 
united by a calcareous cement. This stratum can- 
not be very thick, for the water issues from the sides 
of the cavity, at the depth of five or six feet, and 
soon clarifies itself when allowed to stand. Pliny 
was of opinion that the facility of obtaining this in- 
dispensable liquid is occasioned by a process of ultra- 



222 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



tion, whereby the rains which fall on the mountains 
of Mauritania are conveyed under the surface to a 
great distance on either side. Nor, according to the 
judgment 'of the author of the Travels in Barbary, 
was the Roman naturalist wrong in ascribing the 
origin of these wells to the floods in the hilly dis- 
trict, which, not finding a channel to convey them 
to the sea, stagnate under the immense heaps of sand 
with which this coast abounds. The water does, 
no doubt, taste brackish to lips accustomed to the 
limpid streams of Europe ; but, as the proportion of 
salt is really inconsiderable, it is presumed that the 
supply of moisture is not derived immediately from 
the ocean. In fact, the elevation at which such 
w r ells are dug must preclude the supposition that 
they could ever be filled by a natural oozing from 
the basin of the neighbouring deep ; and hence the 
w r ater obtained from them must have some con- 
nexion with the peculiarity of the soil, which, how- 
ever parched on the top, is abundantly moist at a 
little depth * 

After a march of two hours, the promontory 
which begins at Mesurata sinks into the Mediter- 
ranean at the place called by Ptolemy Cape Triero. 
From this point the eye commands nearly the whole 
of the vast gulf known as the Greater Syrtis, as 
well as of the desert regions by which it is border- 
ed; and we can well believe that the heart of the 
traveller shrinks at the sight of such melancholy 
solitudes, where the earth is destitute of its usual 
covering, and the surface so flat that not a single 

* " Puteos tamen baud difficilis binum ferme cubitorum inveniunt 
altitudine, ibi restagnantibus Mauritania? aquis. 1 ' — Plin. Hist. Na- 
tur. lib. v. 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 223 

hillock can be descried. The shores of this danger- 
ous recess were lately occupied by the tribe of the 
Welled Ali, who, rebelling against the Pasha of 
Tripoli, were utterly exterminated by the bey, his 
eldest son. Secure in the strength of their wilder- 
ness, they assassinated with impunity every one 
who attempted to pass through it ; and the mariner, 
dreading these miscreants still more than tempests 
and quicksands, carefully avoided their inhospitable 
coast. The head of the barbarian who commanded 
this savage horde was fixed upon a pole at the ex- 
tremity of the gulf, in the year 1817, when Delia 
Cella performed his journey to the Cyrenaica. 

At Mesurata there is a town of the same name, 
about a mile from the sea, the houses of which are 
said to be wretchedly constructed, and for the most 
part separated from each other by gardens or vacant 
ground. They are not more than ten feet in height, 
built of pebbles cemented with mud ; the roof being 
nothing more than palm leaves and straw inter- 
woven, laid upon rafters, and daubed over with a 
mixture of sand and slime. The inhabitants de- 
rive their chief subsistence from the produce of the 
soil ; but there are also some manufactories of car- 
pets and other goods, the principal beauty of which 
arises from the fine quality of the native wool em- 
ployed in their fabric. Caravans go from hence to 
Fezzan and Wady Ghraat with cotton cloth, camlets, 
and coloured beads, the most envied ornament of 
the sable maidens on the banks of the Joliba ; for 
at the latter of these stations they meet the negro 
merchants from the regions beyond the sands, who 
carry those articles to Timbuctoo, in exchange for 
gold-dust, ivory, and slaves. 



224 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



It has been already mentioned,, that salt-marshes 
prevail along the greater part of the coasts inter- 
spersed with pools of open water; around which, 
in the sand, are numerous incrustations of marine 
salt, in such abundance, too, that it is heard crack- 
ling under the feet of the horses and camels as they 
pass over it. This phenomenon is mentioned by 
Herodotus as existing upon the border of that vast 
desert, which he describes as extending from Egyp- 
tian Thebes, across the country of the Ammonians 
as far as the Pillars of Hercules ; in other words, 
on the edge of the Sahara, where the surface of the 
sandy waste is still found mixed with the muriate of 
soda. But the Italian physician maintains that these 
marshes have no communication with the ocean ; ob- 
serving that all the wilderness is sprinkled over with 
small crusts, and that the hills which run towards 
the swamps are composed of the same materials, 
with this difference only, that the sand of the high 
ground is aggregate and compact, while that of the 
plain is loose and light. Notwithstanding, it is 
acknowledged that in some parts the pools of salt 
water, the incrustations, and more especially the 
masses of marine salt, leave no doubt that the Me- 
diterranean must have passed over the lower part of 
the coast at a comparatively recent period.* 

In truth, the occasional spreading of the sea over 
those desolate shores has given rise to the notion of 
a bay or inlet, which is supposed to extend about 
fifty miles into the interior. By D'Anville this 
indentation is called the Gulf of Zuca ; while it is 
laid down in the same dimensions by Arrowsmith, 
who does not, however, venture to give it a name. 

* Travels in Barbary, p. 62. 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 



225 



To account for this mistake,, Delia Cella reminds 
his readers that the country contiguous to this part 
of the Great Syrtis is flat, and very little raised 
above the ordinary level of the sea ; that though 
the shores are lined with sand-hills, they are fre- 
quently dispersed by hurricanes, and even shift 
their position from other causes ; that in winter the 
waves are forcibly driven upon the coast ; and that 
the currents, running from north to south, greatly 
increase the body of water on the African side dur- 
ing the same season of the year. Hence, he is dis- 
posed to conclude that, under these circumstances, 
the sea, breaking down the sandy ramparts on the 
beach, spreads itself over the adjacent plains and 
inundates a considerable tract of country. It ac- 
cordingly happens, that the vast pools of salt water, 
which commence between Arar and Segamengiura, 
although often disunited, form in winter one very 
spacious lake communicating with the sea, and con- 
tinuing as long as the causes just specified keep up 
its level to a certain height. When those causes 
cease to operate, the communication is interrupted ; 
the return of heat promotes evaporation ; the lake 
dwindles into a variety of small pools ; the spots 
from which the water has retired remain marshy ; 
and their edges, as soon as they have dried, present 
abundant deposites of marine salt. The stratum of 
sand which covers these deposites is no obstacle to 
the process of evaporization ; for as the whole soil is 
light and hot, the escape of the aqueous particles is 
thereby rather facilitated than checked.* 

Leo Africanus has adverted to Mesurata as a 
province on the coast of the Mediterranean, distant 

* Narrative of an Expedition, p. 65. 

O 



226 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



about a hundred miles from Tripoli. He states, 
that it contains many castles and villages ; some on 
heights, and others on the plain ; adding, that the 
inhabitants were excessively rich, owing to their 
attention to commerce and exemption from tribute. 
In his days they were in the habit of receiving 
foreign wares, brought to them by the Venetians, 
and of carrying them into Xumidia, where they 
exchanged them for slaves, civet, and musk, from 
Ethiopia, which they afterwards sent to the Turkish 
market. The population of the district is supposed 
to amount to fourteen thousand, the greater part of 
whom are employed in the manufacture of carpets, 
straw-mats, and earthen jars. Their gardens, which 
are carefully enclosed, produce abundance of dates, 
olives, pomegranates, pumpkins, carrots, onions, 
turnips, radishes, tobacco, and cotton. But the 
place, it is obvious, is not now so nourishing as it 
was" in the days of Leo, and its trade appears to be 
exceedingly trifling. 

After Selin, which has nothing particular to re- 
commend it, succeeds Zeliten, a small town con- 
taining about five hundred souls. The houses, as 
usual, are built with mud and rough stones ; the 
roofs being formed of mats and the branches of 
trees, covered with a coating of earth. The nume- 
rous ruins which exist in the vicinity, and the 
frequent appearance of marble columns projecting 
through the mean walls of the cottages, seem to in- 
dicate its former magnificence as the ec Cisternse 
Oppidum" of Ptolemy. The port, which still bears 
the name of Mersa Zeliten, is described as an insig- 
nificant cove that would scarcely afford shelter to a 
boat. The district enjoys, however, the advantage of 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 227 

a copious supply of water, which might indeed be 
rendered much more valuable, could the Arabs be 
taught to exercise a little industry and foresight. 

The same author writes in high terms concerning 
the productiveness of the plain which stretches from 
Lebida to Cape Mesurata. It appears, in truth, 
to have been the most populous part of Libya in 
the time of Herodotus, who compares its exuberant 
fertility to that of the country round Babylon, then 
esteemed the richest soil in the world. Nor is this 
extraordinary degree of fruitfulness owing, in any 
measure, to the skill or assiduity of the inhabitants, 
but proceeds solely from the generous nature of the 
land, which is spontaneously covered with palms 
and olive-trees, entire strangers to cultivation. 

In this neighbourhood is the Cinyphus, now called 
the Wady Khahan, which is said by Ptolemy to 
flow from certain eminences in the interior, styled 
the Hills of the Graces. There is a passage in Strabo 
which is considered as leaving no doubt upon the 
subject, for he speaks of a bridge constructed by the 
Carthaginians across the morasses ; and the remains 
of the piles which supported the arches of such an edi- 
fice are still to be seen there. He likewise says, that 
the surrounding country was frequently inundated 
by the torrent ; and such is the case at present 
during the rainy season. The people of Leptis 
were probably supplied with water from the Ciny- 
phus, — the remains of an aqueduct, extending from 
the ruins of the bridge to that town, being still 
visible. 

Of Lebida itself, the Leptis Magna of former ages, 
nothing now appears, except some shapeless ruins 
scattered about, and half buried under the mounds 



228 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



of sand, which the wind and waves mutually strive 
to accumulate upon the seashore. They consist of 
the remains of magnificent edifices, dilapidated 
towers, shattered columns of red granite, broken 
capitals, and fragments of every species of marble ; 
among which the Parian, the Pentilic, and the ori- 
ental porphyry, are the most conspicuous, and par- 
ticularly worthy of admiration. This city is under- 
stood to have been founded in remote ages by the 
Phoenicians, and long afterwards to have been a 
Roman colony. In such a heap of rubbish, it is 
not easy to point out any vestiges of the more pri- 
mitive structures ; but those of Italian origin are 
sufficiently denoted by the style of architecture, 
and the ornaments of the capitals. It is well 
known, so grand were some of the edifices erected 
by those masters of the ancient world, that seven 
granite pillars, of an immense size, were, on account 
of their uncommon beauty, transported to France, 
and used in ornamenting one of the palaces built 
for Louis the Fourteenth. 

The account of Lebida given by Captain Smyth, 
published in the Proceedings of the Expedition to 
explore the Northern Coast of Africa, is extremely 
interesting ; and as he had the command of a larger 
portion of time than usually falls to the lot of an 
ordinary traveller, the details with which he sup- 
plied his friend Captain Beechey merit a due share 
of attention. He relates that he first visited it in 
1816, to ascertain whether it were possible to em- 
bark the numerous columns lying on its sands, which 
the Pasha of Tripoli had offered to his majesty. 
These remains had, in his eyes, a very interest- 
ing appearance, from the contrast of their fallen 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 



229 



grandeur with the mud-built villages, and the huts 
of the Nomadic tribes around. The city, with its 
immediate suburb, seemed to occupy a space of 
about ten thousand yards, the principal portion of 
which is now covered with a fine white sand, that, 
drifting along the beach, has been arrested by the 
ruins, and proved the means of preserving the 
pillars, capitals, cornices, and sculptured fragments, 
which it partly covers. On his return the following 
year, he was surprised to find that most of the 
valuable columns which were standing the preceding 
May, had either been removed, or were lying broken 
on the spot, and that nearly all of those remaining 
had their astragal and torus chipped off. He dis- 
covered that a report had been circulated of his 
intention to carry them to England ; and as this 
scene had long been a quarry whence the Arabs pro- 
vided themselves with mill-stones, they had, in the 
mean time, been busily employed in breaking the 
finest shafts as a supply for their future wants in 
so necessary a branch of domestic economy. 

Notwithstanding these discouraging appearances, 
he engaged a hundred Arabs to assist him in effect- 
ing an excavation near the centre of the city, in the 
hope of laying bare some specimens of ancient art. 
But he soon had the mortification of perceiving, 
that Leptis had been completely ravaged in former 
times, and its public edifices demolished with dili- 
gent labour ; owing, perhaps, to what he calls the 
furious bigotry of the Carthaginian bishops, who 
zealously destroyed the Pagan monuments in all 
places under their control. From whatever cause 
it proceeded, the destruction is complete. Most of 
the statues are either broken to pieces or hammered 



230 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



into shapeless masses, the arabesque ornaments de- 
faced, the acanthus- leaves and volutes knocked off 
the fallen capitals, and even part of the pavements 
torn up, the shafts alone remaining entire. With 
the view of receiving farther information, he opened 
an extensive necropolis or burialplace, but with 
little success. There were neither vases nor lachry- 
matories ; and his labour met with no reward be- 
sides a coarse species of amphorae and some paterae, 
with a few brass coins, neither rare nor handsome, 
and principally dated in the reigns of Severus, Pu- 
pienus, Alexander, Julia Mammea, Balbus, and 
Gordianus Pius. A number of intaglios, poorly 
executed, were picked up in different parts, as also 
some very common Carthaginian medals, but no- 
thing indicating high antiquity, or an improved 
state of the arts. 

In the course of this excavation, Captain Smyth 
had an opportunity of observing proofs of the fact 
already stated by us, that the greatness of this city 
must have been posterior to the Augustan age, 
when taste was on the decline. The colossal statues 
were in bad style, and most of the buildings had 
been overloaded with indifferent ornament. With- 
out the gates, there are the remains of various 
aqueducts and reservoirs, some of which are in ex- 
cellent preservation. Indeed, the whole plain, from 
the Margib Hills to the Cinyphus, exhibits unequi- 
vocal tokens of its ancient opulence and vast popu- 
lation. The gallant officer expresses his regret that 
no works of art, properly so called, were recovered 
from the wreck of this provincial metropolis. He 
consoles himself, however, with the recollection, that 
during the summer of 1817 many of the architec- 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 231 

tural fragments were moved down to the beach,, 
where they were put on board a storeship for Eng- 
land ; together with thirty-seven shafts,, which form- 
ed the principal object of the expedition, and are now 
deposited in the court of the British Museum. But 
the vessel, unfortunately, was too small to admit 
three fine Cepolline columns of great magnitude, 
which, from their extreme beauty and perfection, 
he was extremely desirous to have removed.* 

Mr Lucas, speaking of the remains of Lebida, 
observes, that they consist of the ruins of a temple, 
and several triumphal arches. The fertility and 
beauty of the neighbouring plains discover the rea- 
sons which induced the Romans to erect a seaport- 
town in a place where there is no natural harbour. 
A luxuriant vegetation, totally unaided by the 
Arab inhabitants, extends twenty-five miles to the 
eastward, and the interest of the scene is increased 
by the remains of a stupendous aqueduct, which 
conveyed water from a distant source. Mr Bla- 
quiere mentions, that there are gateways, walls, an 
immense number of pillars, some of which are of 
the finest granite, broken statues, and marbles, with 
inscriptions in Greek, Latin, and Punic characters. 
There are also a great many sculptured friezes, 
which appear to have belonged to temples; the 
remains of several Roman baths are visible near the 
city ;t and about a mile distant is an oblong terrace 
of fine Roman pavement, apparently connected with 
an ancient theatre. Cameos, coins, medals, and 
bronzes, are frequently found by the natives, who 



* Proceedings, &c. p. 74. 

-f Letters from the Mediterranean, vol. ii. p. 19. Edition 1813. 



232 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



sometimes take them to the town for sale, but as 
often destroy them from motives of superstition. 

In approaching the capital, the attention is at- 
tracted for a moment by some pleasant villages, 
distinguished by the name of Tagiura, and which 
are supposed to occupy the site of the ancient Ab- 
rotonum. These hamlets are surrounded by en- 
closed fields, yielding abundant crops of corn, fruit, 
and vegetables, and shaded by thickly-planted trees, 
among which are the olive and date. According 
to Delia Cella, the inhabitants of the plain between 
Tripoli and this station have made it a theatre of 
rural industry. It is a tract of coast about twelve 
miles in length and three in breadth, bounded to the 
south by shifting sands, which divide it from the 
mountains of Gharian. Among the plantations of 
palm-trees are many delightful gardens, full of 
lemon and orange trees, and protected by impene- 
trable fences composed of the Indian-fig. Tagiura 
contains about three thousand inhabitants, chiefly 
Moors and Jews, whose houses are dispersed in 
groups over the face of the country, and who, be- 
sides their labours as husbandmen, engage in the 
manufacture of coarse camlets, and mats made of 
leaves. At a little distance are a variety of Bedouin 
tribes, who feed their flocks on the edge of the De- 
sert, as well as on an extensive plain called Turot, 
the verdant pastures of which are most grateful to 
the eye. If the industry of these people were sup- 
ported by the government, their lands might always 
be kept fresh by moisture from the hills, and ren- 
dered incredibly fertile.* 

But there is nothing in the character or manners 
* Narrative of an Expedition, p. 22. 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 



233 



of these migratory herdsmen so interesting as to jus- 
tify farther details. We therefore proceed to Tripoli 
itself, the history and present condition of which 
abound with incidents at once more important and 
intelligible to the reader, and which, though they 
are regulated by principles not a little dilferent from 
those which influence the current of events in civi- 
lized countries, begin to assume a closer affinity to 
the politics of Europe. 

It has been already mentioned, that the State of 
Tripolis derived its ancient name from the three 
towns, Leptis Magna, Oea, and Sabrata ; the do- 
main attached to which may be described as ex- 
tending from the Gulf of Sidra, or the Greater Syr- 
tis, to that of Cabes, or the Lesser Syrtis. The 
modern city, which bears the somewhat altered ap- 
pellation of Tripoli, is understood to occupy the site 
of Oea ; being washed by the sea on the north and 
east, while on the other two sides it is invested by 
a sandy plain. It is true that Oea is nowhere 
mentioned as a port, whereas the town by which it 
has been succeeded must always have touched the 
shore ; but as the Greek geographers were not very 
particular in their distinctions, the objection which 
might be drawn from the circumstance now stated 
is not held of much weight. 

Before the building of the present town, believed 
to be of Moorish origin, there was one denomi- 
nated Tripoli Vecchia, elevated on the ruins of 
Leptis Magna, which, again, owed its foundation 
to the Phoenicians at a very remote period. The 
old Tripoli was destroyed by the Saracens, under 
the caliphate of Omar, who, after a siege of six 
months, demolished its walls, and carried the great- 



234 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



er part of the inhabitants prisoners into Egypt. 
This event is recorded by Leo Africanus, who re- 
marks at the same time, that the unfortunate city 
had been erected by the Romans, and that the one 
which inherits the name was built by the natives of 
Africa. Leo does not assign a date for the birth 
of the second Tripoli, nor does he any where inti- 
mate that it was placed among the ruins of Oea, — a 
town which was also indebted for its principal or- 
naments to the imperial government. A magnifi- 
cent arch, still remaining, is sufficient to establish 
these facts ; while an inscription, not yet defaced by 
the hand of time, distinctly refers its date to the 
reign of Marcus Aurelius. 

The African geographer has taken pains to in- 
form us, that the houses of Tripoli, when compared 
with those of Tunis, are extremely elegant. But 
this distinction, if it ever existed, must have passed 
away ; for the rude and dilapidated masses of mud 
and stone, which now present themselves to the eye 
of the traveller under the name of dwellings, have, 
indeed, very little of architectural beauty to recom- 
mend them. In entering its gates, those who are 
not accustomed to Mohammedan negligence might 
imagine that they had wandered into some deserted 
and ruinous place, though they be actually travers- 
ing the most admired streets of a fashionable quarter. 
This impression, so far as Europeans are concerned, 
is unavoidable ; but the inhabitants themselves are 
strongly convinced of the beauty and convenience of 
their capital ; while the wandering Arab, when he 
approaches its ramparts, looks up to the high and 
white-washed walls of the pasha's castle, expressing 
vividly in his countenance the astonishment he 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 



235 



feels, that human hands and ingenuity could have 
accomplished such a structure !* 

Mr Blaquiere has a more favourable opinion of 
Tripoli, which, he says, might be taken as a model 
by some European towns in the Mediterranean ; 
and, though it possesses neither the elegance nor re- 
gularity of Valetta, you never hear of acts of vio- 
lence being committed in the streets, and robberies 
are altogether unknown. This is the result of 
a well-regulated police, for which all the towns of 
Barbary are very remarkable ; for, independently of 
a night-patrole, there is a guard stationed in each 
street, who is responsible for whatever may occur 
in it of an improper nature. There is besides al- 
ways a number of people kept for the express pur- 
pose of sweeping the town, — a precaution of the 
greatest utility, and to which, amongst others, we 
may attribute the health generally enjoyed by the 
inhabitants. 

But it must not be concealed, that his estimate of 
the moral character of the Tripolines themselves is 
by no means so nattering. He assures his read- 
ers, that he has been unable to discover any good 
qualities which might be put in contrast with their 
revenge, avarice, treachery, and deceit, conspicuous 
alike in the prince and the peasant. In fact, there is 
no species of artifice which a Moor will not practise to 
attain his object ; no lies nor imposture to which he 
has not recourse when dealing with foreigners. Me- 
naces and threats are sometimes employed by the 
higher order of society ; while the Arabs pride them- 
selves in the success of their attempts to impose 
quietly on your credulity. Stabbing with a knife 

* Beechey, p. 6. 



236 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



is the usual result of a serious dispute between sol- 
diers or sailors. Civil ians, on the other hand, are 
said to gratify their resentment against each other 
by administering poison in a cup of coffee ; and 
this mode of removing an enemy or a rival has be- 
come so common, that when any person dies sud- 
denly, people say, " He has taken his coffee !" The 
medicated beverage is sometimes given with the 
view of producing instant dissolution, and at others 
with the intention of prolonging the victim's mise- 
ries for several months. 

But it is admitted by all travellers, that the dis- 
tant view of Tripoli, especially from the Mediterra- 
nean, is grand and not a little imposing. Pre- 
viously to entering the bay, says an author who 
spent several years in Northern Africa, the country 
is rendered picturesque by various tints of beautiful 
verdure. No object whatever seems to interrupt 
the evenness of the soil, which is almost white, and 
interspersed with long avenues of trees ; for such is 
the appearance of the numerous palms, planted in 
regular rows, and kept in the finest order. Their 
immense branches, coarse when near, are neat and 
distinct at a distance. The land lying low and very 
level, the naked stems of these trees are scarcely 
seen - and the plantations of dates seem to extend 
many miles in luxuriant woods and groves. The 
whole town appears in a semicircle some time before 
reaching the harbour's mouth. The extreme white- 
ness of the buildings, flat, square, and covered with 
lime, encountering the sun's fiercest rays, is not less 
striking than oppressive. The baths form clusters 
of very large cupolas, crowded together in different 
parts of the town. The mosques have in general a 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 237 

small plantation of Indian-figs and date- trees grow- 
ing close to them, which, at a distance, appearing to 
be so many rich gardens, give to the whole city, in 
the eyes of a European, an aspect truly novel and 
pleasing. On entering the harbour the town begins 
to show what it has suffered from the destructive 
hand of time, — large hills of rubbish appearing in 
different parts of it. The castle or palace in which 
the pasha resides is at the east end, within the 
walls. This edifice is very ancient and well-en- 
closed. It has, however, lost all symmetry on the 
inside, from the innumerable additions made to it 
with the view of accommodating the different 
branches of the royal family, none of whom are 
permitted to live elsewhere. In fact, it has gradually 
increased to such an extent as to have assumed the 
appearance of a fortified village.* 

This description coincides exactly with that given 
by Captain Beechey. He tells us, that the outline 
of Tripoli is extremely irregular, and that, though 
the walls which encompass it seem to have been 
very strong, they are fast falling into ruins. The 
ramparts are provided with a few guns, which, 
however, are for the most part unserviceable, and 
more likely to injure those whom they are meant to 
protect than to annoy an enterprising enemy. In 
truth, the pasha does not rely upon the artificial de- 
fences of the place for security against the aggres- 
sions of a European fleet. He has much more con- 
fidence in that jealousy which has hitherto pre- 
vented the great Christian governments from co-ope- 
rating together for a common object, and, more es- 
pecially, for establishing colonies on the shores of 

* Tully's Letters, p. 16. 



238 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



Barbary, though their own reputation, and the 
lives and properties of their subjects, require that 
they should at all hazards attain an undisputed as- 
cendency over those piratical tribes who have so 
long infested the Mediterranean. 

The grand mosque, in which the pasha's family 
are buried, is said to have a very handsome exte- 
rior. It stands in the main street, near the south- 
ern gate of the city, and almost opposite to the pa- 
lace. Before the entry there is a species of portico 
fabricated of lattice-work, curiously carved, and 
two folding-doors of the same material ; while a 
great number of beautifully-coloured tiles, with 
which the bottom of the lattice- work is set, give it 
an appearance of neatness very pleasing to the eye. 
Over the doors of all the mosques are long sentences 
from the Koran, cut in stone and painted. Those on 
this edifice are not only more richly gilt and co- 
loured, but the sculpture is also much handsomer 
than on any other in the town." 

The principal specimen of antiquity now remain- 
ing is the triumphal arch already mentioned, built 
of fine marble and ornamented with sculpture and 
inscriptions. The greatest part of this beautiful 
monument is buried in the earth, which reaches 
nearly to the middle of it ; and the upper part has 
received considerable damage from the accidents of 
w r ar and the ignorant curiosity of the natives. It 
was erected by the Consul Scipio (Efritus, in the 
days of Pius Antoninus, and afterwards dedicated 
to the honour of his successors. We are told that it 
is esteemed by all good judges as more striking than 
any of the most celebrated in Italy ; as the temple 

* Tully's Letters ; vol. i. p. 14. 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 239 



of Janus at Rome, though constructed of marble, and 
regarded as one of the finest of these edifices, has 
only a plain roof. It does not appear so high as it 
really is, owing to the great accumulation of sand 
carried thither by the winds ; and this is the reason 
why there is as much of the structure now under 
the surface as can be seen above it. The stones 
of which it is composed are so extremely large, that 
it seems wonderful how they could be conveyed 
from the quarry ; and, in a country and an age so 
destitute of mechanical means, it is perhaps not less 
surprising how they were raised to such a height 
from the ground. No cement has been used to 
fasten them together ; yet, so solid are they, that, so 
far as the ravages of time are considered, the pile may 
be pronounced quite uninjured The ceiling is of the 
most beautiful sculpture, a small part of which only 
remains in view, as the Moors, blind to its beauties, 
have for some time filled it up with rubbish and 
mortar, to form shops or warehouses in the interior 
of the arch. On the outside are enormous groups 
of whole-length figures of men and women, exhibit- 
ing allegorical scenes, or, it may be, representing 
some of the more important facts of history. Euro- 
peans, it is said, are often tempted to bring these 
antiquities to light, and they might doubtless make 
great and useful discoveries ; but the jealous Turks 
will not permit them to disturb a stone, or move a 
grain of sand, on such an account; and repeated 
messages have been sent from the castle on these 
occasions to warn Christians of their danger.* 

The inhabitants may be divided into Moors and 
Arabs, the former having a fair complexion, while 

* Tully's Letters, vol. i. p. 18. 



240 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 




Rich Moor and Female. 



the latter are in general dark and sallow. They are 
all remarkable for regular and athletic forms,, and a 
cripple or deformed person is rarely seen amongst 
them. There are, besides, some Turks and Jews, 
together with a certain proportion of negroes and 
European renegadoes. As the pasha affords little 
countenance to the Moors, who have, therefore, but 
a very small chance of rising in the offices of go- 
vernment, they apply themselves to trade, to manu- 
factures, and even to agriculture, whence many of 
them have acquired considerable wealth. The 
cut inserted above represents a couple in this class 
of society, who, by their dress and appearance, af- 
ford some indication of the opulence to which they 
have attained. 

6 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 241 

The Turks spend much of their time at a bazaar, 
where excellent coffee is prepared and nothing else. 
No Moorish gentleman enters the house, but sends 
his slave to procure a cup of the favourite beverage, 
which he drinks at the door, seated on a marble 
couch under a green arbour. These benches are 
furnished with the richest and most beautiful mats 
and carpets. Here are found, at certain hours of 
the day, all the principal persons of that class, sit- 
ting cross-legged with dishes of coffee in their hands 
made as strong as the essence itself. On such occa- 
sions they are always attended by their black ser- 
vants, one of whom holds his master's pipe, another 
his cup, and a third his handkerchief, while he is talk- 
ing. During conversation the hands must be free, 
being quite necessary for the purposes of discourse ; 
for the speaker marks with the forefinger of his 
right hand upon the palm of his left, as accurately 
as we do with a pen, the different parts of his speech, 
a comma, a quotation, or a striking passage. This 
renders their dialogue very singular in the eye of a 
European, who, being unused to the manner, has 
great difficulty in following the argument or narra- 
tive to which his attention may be invited. 

The Arabs in the regency of Tripoli form three 
classes ; the first, those who come from Arabia ; the 
second, the Arabs of Africa ; and the third, the wan- 
dering Bedouins. The two former are said to be 
equally warlike, handsome in their persons, gene- 
rous in their temper, honourable in their dealings, 
grand and ambitious in all their proceedings when 
in power, and abstemious in their food. They pos- 
sess great genius, and enjoy a settled cheerfulness, 
not in the least bordering on buffoonery. Each of 

p 



242 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



these tribes is governed by a chief, or sheik, by 
whose laws all those under him are directed, judg- 
ed, and punished. Their trade is war; and, as 
auxiliary troops, they serve with due fidelity the 
master who pays them best, so long as their con- 
tract continues. 

The Bedouins are hordes of petty merchants 
wandering over the country, and trading in what 
they can carry from place to place. In the spring of 
the year they advance to Tripoli to occupy the plain, 
or Pianura, as it is usually called. Here they sow 
their corn, wait till they can reap it, and then dis- 
appear till the following season. They pitch their 
tents under the walls of the city, but cannot enter 
it without leave ; and for any misdemeanour they 
may commit their chief is answerable to the pasha. 
Both the Arabs and Bedouins still retain many cus- 
toms described in sacred and profane history, and 
are in almost every thing the same people as we find 
mentioned in the earliest records. 

In some respects, also, these migratory herdsmen 
bear a certain resemblance to the Scottish High- 
landers. The men, for example, wear a thick dark- 
brown baracan of w r ool, five or six yards long and 
about two wide, which serves them as their whole 
dress by day and their bed by night. They put it 
on by joining the two upper corners with a wooden 
or iron bodkin, and these being first placed over the 
left shoulder, they afterwards fold the rest round 
their bodies, in a manner somewhat graceful. To 
those unaccustomed to wear it, the adjustment of 
its folds is no simple matter ; and a stranger is 
easily discovered by the style of his robe, so- dif- 
ferent from that recommended by the national usage. 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 243 

In this particular,, the women, as might he ex- 
pected, are found to excel. Their skin is said to 
be very dark, almost sable ; they have black eyes, 
amazingly white teeth, and in general regular fea- 
tures. They practise, however, the barbarous cus- 
tom of scarifying their faces, particularly their chins, 
rubbing the wound immediately with gunpowder, 
which leaves ever after a distinct mark in the shape 
they have previously cut. Many of them prick 
deeply with a needle the figure they wish to print in 
the flesh, — a much longer, and of course more pain- 
ful operation ; but the beauty of the ornament they 
consider a sufficient recompense for the dreadful tor- 
ment they endure in producing it. They are for 
the most part tall, thin, and well made; nor do 
they seem to be of the same opinion as some ladies 
in Tripoli, who think, if they are not too fat to 
move without help, they cannot be strictly hand- 
some ; and who, to arrive to this, actually force them- 
selves, after a plentiful meal, to eat a small wheaten 
loaf soaked in water.* 

In the mountains which bound the plain to the 
southward is a very curious village of Arabs. The 
habitations are at the very summit of the ridge, not 
to be easily distinguished but by those who inhabit 
them, as they are all fabricated under ground. A 
small entry, very narrow and long, is dug sloping- 
ly, which leads under the earth to the house, down 
which the cattle are driven, followed by the family. 
These people are chiefly banditti; and they are 
never disturbed or attacked, as the narrow subter- 
raneous passages to their dwellings, where one man 
may keep a great number at bay, form a sufficient 

* Tully's Letters, vol. i. p. 43. 



244 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



protection to them against the Moors. The length 
of the entry to these caverns has given rise to a pro- 
verbial simile ; every story or tale that is long and 
tiresome, is said to be like the skiffer at Ghariana, 
which has no ending.* 

The Pianura or plain, visited periodically by the 
Bedouins, presents in the proper season, which co- 
incides with our autumn, an aspect peculiarly plea- 
sant and rich. It is, in short, a little country of 
corn, — every part of it being sown with Indian 
wheat and barley. The former grows to a height of 
five or six feet, and constitutes a convenient shelter 
from the oppressive heat of the sun to those who 
delight in a rural walk. But during the greatest part 
of the year it is a sea of sand, shifting from place to 
place, with occasionally a slight stratum of mud on 
it ; and the parts which have been cropped look as 
if they were burnt with fire, owing to the extreme 
power of the solar rays, which render the stubble 
perfectly black. 

We are told, on the same authority, that the 
houses of the principal people of Tripoli, unlike 
those of the Egyptians, which are built high, never 
exceed one story. You first pass through a sort of 
hall or lodge, called by the Moors a skiffer, with 
benches of stone on each side. From this a stair- 
case leads to a grand apartment, termed a gulphor, 
which possesses a convenience, not allowed in any 
other room, that, namely, of having windows facing 
the street. This chamber is held sacred to the mas- 
ter of the mansion. Here he holds his levees, trans- 
acts business, and enjoys convivial parties. None, 
even of his own family, dare enter it without his 

* Tully's Letters, vol. i. p. 49. 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 245 

particular leave ; and, though such a restriction may 
seem arbitrary, yet a Moorish female, in this one in- 
stance, may be said to equal her lord in power ; as, 
if he finds a pair of lady's slippers at the door of her 
apartment, he cannot go in, — he must wait till they 
are removed. Beyond the hall or lodge is the court- 
yard, paved in a style of elegance proportioned to 
the fortune of the owner. Some are done with 
brown cement, resembling finely-polished stone; 
others are executed in black or white marble ; while 
those of the poorer class display nothing more ex- 
pensive than pounded clay. The houses, whether 
large or small, in town or in country, are built on 
the same plan. The court is used for receiving 
female parties, entertained by the principal wife, 
upon the celebration of a marriage, or any other 
feast ; and also, in cases of death, for the performance 
of such funeral services as are customary prior to the 
removal of the body to the grave. On these occa- 
sions the pavement is covered with mats or Turkey 
carpets, and is sheltered from the heat of the wea- 
ther by an awning extended over the whole yard, 
for which the Moors sometimes incur great expense. 
Rich silk cushions are laid round for seats ; the 
walls are hung with tapestry, and the whole is con- 
verted into a grand saloon. This court is surround- 
ed with a cloister supported by pillars, over which 
a gallery is erected of the same dimensions, enclosed 
with a lattice- work of wood. From the cloister and 
gallery, doors open into large chambers not commu- 
nicating with each other, and which receive light 
only from this yard. The windows have no glass, 
but are furnished with jalousies of wood curiously 
cut, admitting only a faint glimmering, and pre- 



246 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



eluding all intercourse even by looks. The tops of 
the houses, which are fiat, are covered with plas- 
ter or cement, and surrounded by a parapet about a 
foot high, to prevent any thing from immediately 
falling into the street. Upon these terraces the in- 
mates enjoy the refreshing sea-breeze, so luxurious 
after a parching day, and are here constantly seen 
at sunset offering their devotions to Mohammed; 
for, let a Moor be where he may, when he hears the 
marabout announce the evening prayer, nothing in- 
duces him to pass that moment without prostrating 
himself to the ground, — a circumstance surprising 
to Europeans, if they happen to be in company, or 
even walking through the streets. 

In all parts of Barbary a guard of two dragomans 
are sent by the government to reside at the houses 
of foreign consuls and ministers, and to accompany 
the family whenever they walk out. In Algiers 
the Christians at one time found it necessary to 
allow these official protectors to dine at their ta- 
bles ; where, of course, they acted as spies on all 
that passed, and were often the cause of much dis- 
turbance. At Tripoli a more liberal system has 
usually been adopted ; and the military attendants, 
who are, as far as is desirable, under the control of 
the embassy, may be increased or diminished accord- 
ing to circumstances. 

Xot withstanding the despotic nature of the autho- 
rity with which the pasha is invested, it is not diffi- 
cult for the meanest subject to approach him, and 
make his case known. Often when he is on the 
seat of judgment, the cry of Shar-alla, — Justice 
in the name of God, — is heard resounding through 
the hall. The oppressed Moor calls out these words 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 247 

as he approaches, and before he has entered into the 
presence of his highness ; upon which the way is 
instantly made clear for the suppliant, who enjoys a 
prescriptive right to detain the great man till his 
grievances are redressed. Blaquiere also remarks 
that, though the Tripolines are cruel, the adminis- 
tration of justice is equal and lenient. Capital pu- 
nishments are by no means frequent, and are never, 
indeed, inflicted except in cases of murder, the 
breach of the seventh article of the Decalogue, and for 
crimes against the government. The amazing promp- 
titude, moreover, with which delinquencies of every 
kind are punished has often excited the admiration 
of Europeans. An individual is no sooner detected 
in the violation of a law, than he is seized and 
brought to the Kaya, who forthwith investigates the 
alleged charges upon evidence ; and, if the case in- 
volves no point of peculiar difficulty, the penalty 
awarded to the offence instantly follows conviction. 
This officer hears causes a certain number of hours 
every day. The pasha also, as already mentioned, 
presides at stated periods, according to the pressure 
of business ; on which occasions every man acts as 
his own advocate, and in defending himself is al- 
lowed to speak with a degree of freedom which 
would shock the feelings of a European sovereign/" 
The bastinado is the punishment usually in- 
flicted for all minor wickednesses ; or if imprison- 
ment be added, it seldom exceeds two or three 
months, so that no man's labour is lost to the com- 
munity. Thefts are checked in a very exemplary 
and curious manner; the malefactor's right hand 
and left foot are taken off and suspended several 

* Letters from the Mediterranean, vol. ii. p. 66. 



248 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



days in a place of public resort. Executions are not 
allowed to be performed by Mohammedans, — a suffi- 
cient number of Jews being always kept in reserve 
to discharge this public duty. 

The religious ceremonies, whether at births, 
deaths, or marriages, being the same at this regency 
as in other Mohammedan states, it is not our inten- 
tion to enter upon any minute description of them. 
We should not, however, do justice to the reader 
did we omit to abridge, from the letters written at 
the court of Tripoli, an account of a visit paid by an 
English lady to the family of the pasha in his for- 
midable castle. On approaching this royal resi- 
dence, you pass the first entrenchments escorted by 
the hampers, or body-guards ; after which you en- 
ter the courtyard, usually crowded with soldiers 
waiting before the skiffer or hall, where the kaya sits 
as judge. This is the principal officer belonging to 
his highness, and the deepest in his confidence; with- 
out w T hose consent no subject can obtain an audience 
in the palace even on the most important business. 
Beyond this hall is a paved square with a piazza 
supported by marble pillars, in which is built the 
messeley, or council- chamber, where the pasha 
holds his levees on gala-days. It is finished on the 
outside with Chinese tiles, a number of which form 
an entire painting ; and a flight of variegated marble 
steps leads up to the door of it. The nubar, or royal 
band, performs with great ceremony before the door 
of the messeley every afternoon, when the third 
marabout announces the prayers of lazzero at four 
o'clock, and on the whole of Wednesday night, be- 
ing the eve of the accession to the throne. No one 
on any account can pass the music while it plays, 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 249 



and certain officers of state attend during the whole 
of the performance. Before it begins, the chief, or 
captain of the chouses, who in this instance must 
be considered as a herald, goes through the cere- 
mony of proclaiming the pasha afresh. The sounds 
of the nubar, it is said, are singular to a European 
ear, being produced by the turbuka, a sort of kettle- 
drum, the reed, and the timbrel ; the first belongs 
to the Moors, the two latter to the negroes.* 

The numerous buildings added to the castle form 
several streets, at the end of which is the bagnio where 
the Christian slaves are kept. No gentlemen are 
permitted to approach nearer the harem, or ladies' 
apartments, than the place just named ; and from 
hence you are conducted by eunuchs through long 
vaulted passages, so extremely dark that it is with 
great difficulty the way can be discerned. On en- 
tering the harem a striking gloom prevails. The 
courtyard is grated over the top with heavy iron- 
bars, very close together, giving it a melancholy ap- 
pearance. The galleries round this enclosure, be- 
fore the chambers, are fortified with lattices cut 
very small in wood. The pasha's daughters, when 
married, have separate apartments sacred to them- 
selves : no one can enter them but their husbands 
and attendants, eunuchs and slaves ; and if it is ne- 
cessary for the ladies to speak in the presence of a 
third person, even to their father or brother, they 
must instantly veil themselves. The great num- 
ber of servants filling up every avenue renders it al- 
most impossible to proceed from one apartment to 
another. cc We found some black slaves recently 
brought from Fezzan extremely troublesome, from 

* Tully's Letters, vol. i. p. 57, &c 



250 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



their alarming fears created at the sight of a Euro- 
pean's dress and complexion. A miniature on a lady's 
arm was taken by one of these blacks for a sheitan 
or evil spirit. Its resemblance, though on a small 
scale, to the human figure was so strong that, on 
suddenly perceiving it, she uttered convulsive 
screams, and it was only after much persuasion 
that she could be pacified. It is dangerous to come 
in their way with costly lace or beads ; the first, if 
they are suffered to touch, they quickly pull to 
pieces ; and the latter they instantly bite through 
in trying if they are genuine pearls. 

" On entering the apartment of Lilla Kebbiera, 
the wife of the pasha, we found her seated with 
three of her daughters. She is extremely affable, 
and has the most insinuating manner imaginable. 
She is not more than forty; but her age is not 
spoken of, as it is against the Moorish religion to 
keep registries of births. She is still very hand- 
some, a fair beauty with blue eyes and flaxen hair. 
On visiting this sovereign, the consuls' wives are 
permitted to kiss her head ; their daughters, or 
other ladies in their company, her right hand ; her 
left she offers only to the dependents. If any of her 
blacks, or the domestics of the castle, are near her, 
they frequently seize the opportunity of kneeling 
down to kiss the end of her baracan or upper-gar- 
ment. — The bey, her eldest son, has been married 
several years, having entered into wedlock at the 
early age of seven. Indeed, the Moors marry so ex- 
tremely young that the mother and her firstborn, 
are often seen together as playmates, equally anxi- 
ous and angry in an infantine game. The women 
here are frequently grandmothers at twenty-six or 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 251 

twenty-seven ; and, therefore, it is no wonder that 
they occasionally live to see the children of many 
generations. — The apartment she was in was hung 
with dark-green velvet-tapestry, ornamented with 
coloured silk damask flowers ; and sentences out of 
the Koran were cut in silk letters and newly sewed 
on, forming a deep border at the top and bottom : 
below this, the walls were finished with tiles form- 
ing landscapes. The sides of the doorway and the 
entrance into the room were marble ; and, according 
to the custom of furnishing here, choice china and 
crystal encircled the room on a moulding near the 
ceiling. Close beneath these ornaments were placed 
large looking-glasses with frames of gold and silver; 
the floor was covered with curious matting and rich 
carpeting over it : loose mattresses and cushions, 
placed on the ground, made up in the form of so- 
fas, covered with velvet, and embroidered with 
gold and silver, served for seats, with Turkey car- 
pets laid before them. The coffee was served in 
very small cups of China, placed in gold fillagree 
cups without saucers, on a solid gold salver of an 
uncommon size, richly embossed. This massive 
waiter was brought in by two slaves, who bore it 
between them round to each of the company ; and 
these two eunuchs were the most richly-habited 
slaves we had yet seen in the castle ; they were en- 
tirely covered with gold and silver. Refreshments 
were afterwards served up on low and beautifully- 
inlaid tables, not higher than a foot from the 
ground ; and amongst the sherbets was fresh pome- 
granate-juice passed through the rind of the fruit, 
which gave it an excellent flavour. After the re- 
past, slaves attended with silver filigree censers, 



252 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



offering at the same time towels with gold ends 
wove in them nearly half a yard deep. — We were 
conducted over the harem, and though it was day- 
light, we were obliged to have torches on account of 
some long dark passages we had to go through. Could 
the subterranean ways and hidden corners of this 
castle tell the secret plots and strange events that 
happen daily within its w T alls, they w r ould be most 
extraordinary to hear. When we came near the 
bagnio of the Christian slaves our guide from the 
harem quitted us, and the guards, with the gentle- 
men who had w r aited for our return, conducted us 
through the outer fortifications."'"" 

The history of Tripoli is so closely connected with 
the annals of the Barbary States at large, that it 
would prove inconvenient to enter minutely into its 
details. Partaking of the ignorance which followed 
the conquest of the Saracens and the ascendency of 
the Turks, it ceased to engage the attention of Eu- 
rope till the ravages committed by the Corsairs in 
the beginning of the sixteenth century excited the 
resentment of Charles V., the German emperor. 
Having subdued the Tripolines, he put their city 
under the government of the Knights of Malta, who 
kept possession of it till the year 1551, when they 
were expelled by Sinan Pasha and the celebrated 
Dragoot Rais. Returning to their wonted habits of 
piracy, the Moors in 1655 provoked the resentment 
of Cromwell, w T ho sent Admiral Blake with a fleet to 
chastise the Tunisians, and compel the other states to 
submit to terms. Tw T enty years, however, had scarce- 
ly elapsed, when it became necessary for the English 
to interpose again, as well for the safety of their 

* Tully's Letters, vol. i. p. 67. 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 



253 



trade as for the honour of the Christian name. Sir 
John Narborough, in 1675, with a squadron of 
ships, appeared before their port, to punish them for 
their frequent breach of treaty. The gallant man- 
ner in which the boats under the direction of Lieu- 
tenant Shovel, afterwards the renowned Sir Cloudes- 
ly, made an attack on their men-of-war lying in the 
harbour, struck them at once with amazement and 
terror. Seeing four of their largest vessels destroyed 
under their batteries, they relinquished all hope of 
a successful resistance, and readily acceded to the 
conditions which the British admiral was authorized 
to propose. From that period negotiation alone has 
sufficed to secure for our countrymen the protection 
due to a triumphant flag, and without any actual 
appeal to force.* 

Down to the year 1714, the Turks exercised the 
government at Tripoli, — a pasha as well as a regular 
army being from time to time appointed by the 
Porte, for the maintenance of authority and the col- 
lection of tribute. But, at the epoch now mention- 
ed, a revolution took place, the consequences of 
which have been perpetuated to the present day. 
Hamet, usually called the Great, was at that time 
bey, who, upon a temporary removal of his superior, 
applied to the sultan for the appointment, and ob- 
tained it. He had resolved upon a change in the 
administration of affairs, and the mode by which he 
accomplished his object was truly characteristic of 
the people to whom he owed his lineage. In the 
course of twenty-four hours he contrived to send 
away from the city all the Turkish soldiers ; and at 
his palace, not far distant, he announced a superb 

* Letters from the Mediterranean, vol. ii. p. 82. 



254 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



entertainment, to which he invited all the principal 
officers, civil and military, who held their commis- 
sions from Constantinople. Three hundred of these 
unfortunate victims were strangled, one by one, as 
they entered the skiffer or hall, — a long passage with 
small dark rooms or deep recesses on each side, in 
which a. hidden guard was placed. The soldiers as- 
sassinated the Turks one by one as they arrived, 
and, dragging the bodies out of sight, removed all 
ground of suspicion until the whole had fallen under 
their hands. Those, too, who remained in the city 
were next day found murdered, no doubt by order 
of the new pasha ; but no inquiry was any where 
made, with the view of discovering those who had 
perpetrated such horrid deeds. Only a few of the 
proscribed class survived to tell the dreadful tale. 
Large presents, it is said, were immediately sent to 
Constantinople to appease the grand seignior ; and in 
a day or two no one dared to speak of the Turkish 
garrison which had been butchered with so much 
cruelty and premeditation. From that period the 
direct influence of the Porte was greatly lessened, the 
government being seized by the Moors, who have 
ever since retained the principal authority, though 
they continue to acknowledge the Ottoman emperor 
as their sovereign paramount.* 

The reign of Hamet was distinguished for great 
talent and activity. He carried his arms into the 
interior, reduced Fezzan to his obedience, and the 
still more savage districts of Ghariana and Messulata. 
He had moreover the merit of encouraging ingenious 
foreigners to settle in his dominions, and thereby 
improved many sources of national wealth, particu- 

* Tully's Letters, vol. i. p. 70. 



I 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 255 

larly the manufacture of woollens and the prepara- 
tion of the finer kinds of leather. He lived till the 
year 1745 ; and upon his demise the supreme power 
was intrusted to his second son, by whom it has 
been transmitted, though not in a direct line, as the 
hereditary right of the family who now occupy the 
throne. * 

Fezzan, which still continues tributary to the de- 
scendants of Hamet the Great, is bounded by Tri- 
poli on the north, by the Desert of Barca on the east, 
and by the Sahara on the west and south. The 
greatest length of the cultivated country, from north 
to south, is about 255 miles, and its breadth 200 
miles, from east to west. According to Hornemann, 
this small state contains 100 towns and villages, of 
which Moorzuk is the capital. There is also Zuila, 
which, as narrated by old travellers, possessed mag- 
nificent ruins, thoughnone of these wonders have been 
seen by the moderns. During the south wind, the heat 
is scarcely supportable even to the inhabitants, who 

* Blaquiere, vol. ii. p. 86. The following are the principal offi- 
cers of state at Tripoli : — 

The Pasha's eldest son has the title of Bey, and usually acts as 
commander-in-chief. 

The Aga commands all the Turkish soldiers in the Pasha's pay, 
now not exceeding 100. 

The Kaya or Chiah is Grand Judge ; presiding all day, except 
from twelve till three, at the castle-gate. 

The Hasnadar Grande is the chief officer of the treasury. 

The Hasnadar Piccolo is Treasurer of the Household. 

The Sheik el Bled administers the laws of the city as head ma- 
gistrate. 

The Mufti is the head of the priesthood. 

The Kadi is judge in matters respecting the Mohammedan faith. 

The Mufti and Kadi assist the Pasha in the administration of 
justice when in full divan. 

The Kaids are the governors of districts, and have power to raise 
taxes and enforce the laws. 

The Haj jis are private secretaries to his highness, of whom he 
has generally two or three. 



256 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



on such occasions find it necessary to sprinkle their 
rooms with water, in order that they may be able 
to breathe. The winter, however, is not so mild as 
might be expected, owing to a cold piercing north 
wind, which completely chilled the natives when 
Hornemann was among them, and obliged this en- 
terprising discoverer himself, inured as he was to the 
more frigid climate of Europe, to have recourse to a fire. 
Rain, which seldom falls here, is enjoyed only to a very 
limited extent ; though the atmosphere is frequently 
disturbed by hurricanes, and darkened with clouds 
of dust and sand from the contiguous waste. In no 
part of the country is there any river or stream wor- 
thy of the slightest notice ; but there are numerous 
springs which supply sufficient water for the pur- 
poses of irrigation. The whole of Fezzan, indeed, 
abounds in that element at a moderate depth under 
ground, derived, no doubt, from the rains which 
moisten the hills on the confines of the Desert, and 
spread over the plain among the loose strata near 
its surface. 

The population has been estimated by recent tra- 
vellers at 60,000 or 70,000, obviously composed of 
a mixed people, as is made manifest by the variety 
of their complexions. The indigenous race is of 
middling stature, of little vigour, of a brown colour, 
black short hair, a regular countenance, and a nose 
less flattened than that of the negro. As to religion, 
the majority are Mohammedans, though it is re- 
marked that they live on good terms with such as 
still adhere to the rites of paganism. Their houses, 
we are told, are built of sun-dried bricks, made of 
calcareous and argillaceous earth ; they are extreme- 
ly low, and receive light only by the door. Dates 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 257 

are the natural produce and staple commodity of this 
country ; figs, pomegranates, and lemons, also come 
to perfection. A great quantity of maize and barley 
is cultivated; but as the inhabitants do not raise wheat 
sufficient for their own consumption, they receive a 
great part of what they use from the Arabs, who, in 
some respects, are much better husbandmen. We 
have already mentioned, that caravans are sent hence 
to Tripoli, Timbuctoo, and Bornou, who trade chief- 
ly in gold-dust and black slaves ; in pursuit of 
which objects, they proceed, it is probable, as far as 
the coast of Guinea. 

The oasis of Augila, as well perhaps as that of 
Siwah, likewise belongs to theTripoline sovereignty. 
The town, which is the residence of a bey, is de- 
scribed as small and mean, having no public buildings 
but such as are of a very wretched aspect. All the in- 
terest attached to the latter state, indeed, arises from 
its being the site of the celebrated temple of Ammon, 
the access to which, in ancient times, was considered 
as almost entirely impracticable. It afforded a con- 
venient station for the trade which theCyrenians car- 
ried on with the central parts of Africa, whence they 
are supposed to have drawn the gold, silver, and pre- 
cious stones, of which they formed the jewellery and 
those other works of taste and elegance wherein they 
excelled. The votive columns, ornamented with dol- 
phins, which are found on the route leading from 
Cyrene to Ammon ; the similarity in the architecture 
of both countries ; and the journey of the Cyrenians, 
who acted as guides to Alexander in his visit to the 
temple of the Libyan deity, prove that in fact the 
relations between them were established long before 
the reign of the Macedonian hero, since at that pe- 

Q 



258 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



riod they appear to have been masters of the oasis. 
The extent of this singular territory in the midst of 
an appalling wilderness,, the excellence of its ther- 
mal waters,, the fertility of its soil,, and its advan- 
tageous position for commerce, explain the interest 
which it constantly excited in the civilized nations 
who occupied the coast. It will, as M. Pacho re- 
marks, be the same again, should civilisation ever 
revisit the regions which it has so long abandoned. 

There is a set of men at Tripoli whom Mr Bla- 
quiere considers as the descendants of the ancient 
Psylli or Serpent-eaters, who, assuming a sacred 
character, are regarded at times with a species of 
veneration. Of this extravagant class of religionists 
we have a very good account in the pages of Captain 
Lyon, who witnessed one of their periodical exhi- 
bitions when on his journey in Northern Africa. 
The marabouts, he tells us, are of two denomina- 
tions ; idiots, who are allowed to say and do what- 
ever they please; and men possessed of all their 
senses, who, by juggling and performing many bold 
and disgusting tricks, establish to themselves the 
exclusive right of being great rogues and nuisances. 
There are mosques in which these people assemble 
every Friday afternoon, where they eat snakes and 
scorpions, affect to be inspired, and commit the most 
revolting extravagances. 

In the month of January their annual festival 
begins, and continues three days with all its barba- 
rous ceremonies. Before the day on which it com- 
mences, the great marabout is supposed to inspire 
such as are to appear in the processions, and who, 
according to their abilities, are more or less mad and 
furious. The natural fools are always ready for the 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES. 259 

exhibition ; and it is amusing to observe their looks 
of astonishment at being on this occasion more than 
any other brought into public notice. During the 
time they parade the streets, no Christian or Jew 
can with any safety make his appearance, as he 
would, if once in the power of these wretches, be in- 
stantly torn in pieces. Indeed, if any person pro- 
fessing either of the hated religions shows himself on 
a terrace or at a window, he is sure to be saluted by a 
plentiful shower of stones from the boys who follow 
the progress of the infuriated saints. 

The captain, who was in the dress of the coun- 
try, ventured to go in the company of his dragoman 
to the mosque from which the procession was to 
set out. He felt that his situation was a dangerous 
one ; but, being resolved on the attempt, he dashed 
into the crowd, and succeeded in getting near the 
performers, who, with dishevelled hair, were ra- 
pidly turning round, and working themselves up 
into a most alarming state of phrensy. A band of 
barbarous music was playing to them, while several 
men were constantly employed in sprinkling them 
with rose-water. When they were sufficiently ex- 
cited, they sallied out into the streets. One had a 
large nail run through his face from one cheek to 
the other ; and all of them had bitten their tongues 
in so violent a manner as to cause blood and saliva 
to flow copiously. They were half naked, uttering, 
at short intervals, groans and howls ; and as they 
proceeded, — sometimes three or four abreast, leaning 
on each other, — they threw their heads backwards 
and forwards with a quick motion, which caused 
the blood to rise in their faces, and their eyes to 
project from their sockets in a frightful manner. 



260 



TRIPOLI AND ITS 



Their long black hair, which grew from the crown 
of the head, — the other parts being closely shaven, — 
was continually waving to and fro, owing to the 
violent agitation in which they indulged. One or 
two, who were the most furious, and who continu- 
ally attempted to run at the crowd, were held by a 
man on each side with a rope, or by means of a 
handkerchief tied round the middle. Captain Lyon 
observed, that whenever the marabouts passed the 
house of a Christian, they affected to be ungovern- 
able, and endeavoured to get near it, pretending 
they had made the discovery by smelling out un- 
believers. 

Two parties were, at the same moment, travers- 
ing the town ; but being of opposite sects, and at 
war with each other, it was so arranged, that 
they should take different routes. That which our 
countryman did not see was the principal one, and 
took its departure from under the walls of the castle. 
It was headed by a man named Mohammed, who 
had been much at the house of the captain, going 
errands, and attending his horses ; and who, be- 
fore the time of the procession, had been confined in 
a dungeon, in consequence of his becoming furious. 
"When all was in readiness for the ceremony, the 
pasha took his station at the balcony overlooking 
the arsenal ; and this man was no sooner set at 
liberty, than he rushed on an ass, and with one 
thrust pushed his hand into the animal's side, from 
which he tore its bowels, and began to devour them. 
Many ate dogs and other living creatures ; and on 
that dav, a little Jew bov was killed in the street, 
either by the marabouts or their followers.* 

* Narrative of Travels in Northern Africa, p. ( J. 



IMMEDIATE DEPENDENCIES* 261 



Captain Lyon adds, that, notwithstanding the 
prohibition of the prophet, drunkenness is more 
common in Tripoli than even in most towns of Eng- 
land. There are public wine-houses, at the doors 
of which the Moors sit and drink without any 
scruple ; and the saldanah, or place of the guard, 
has usually a few drunkards to disgrace its disci- 
pline. Among the better sort of people, too, there 
are a great many who drink hard ; but their favour- 
ite beverage is an Italian cordial, called rosolia, and 
not unfrequently a little rum. 

The intercourse with Europeans is commonly 
carried on in a corrupt dialect, composed of most of 
the tongues spoken along the northern shores of the 
Mediterranean. It may even have been observed, 
that the language of Tripoli, as used by the natives, 
has admitted a great number of terms from the 
banks of the Tiber ; and that ail such ideas as are 
foreign to the habits of an Arab, or a corsair, are 
expressed in the idiom of the modern Romans. 



262 TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 

* 



CHAPTER VII. 

Tunis and its Dependencies. 

Lands included in the Pashalic of Tunis — History resumed — Abou 
Ferez — His Court, Bodyguard, and Council— Invasion of Tunis 
by Louis IX. — Carthage reduced — Sufferings of the French — 
Death of the King — Arrival of the Sicilian Crusaders — Failure 
of the Expedition — Rise of the two Barbarossas, Horuc and Hay- 
radin — The former invited to assist the King of Algiers — He 
murders him and seizes the Government — The Usurper defeated 
and slain — Algiers occupied by Hayradin, who courts the Protec- 
tion of the Grand Seignior— Plans an Attack on Tunis — Succeeds 
in his Attempt — Excites the Resentment of the Emperor Charles V. 
— The vast Preparations in Italy and Spain — Barbarossa prepares 
for Defence — The Goletta is taken — A general Engagement en- 
sues — The Moors are defeated and Tunis falls — TheTownis sack- 
ed and plundered — Muley Hassan restored — Conditions — Exploits 
of Barbarossa — Spaniards expelled by Selim II. — Tunisians elect 
a Dey — Government settled in a Bey — Rise of Hassan Ben Ali 
— Power absolute — Administration of Justice — Description of 
Tunis — Soil and Climate — Army — Superstitions — Manners and 
Customs — Character of the Moors — Avarice of the late Bey — 
Population of the Regency — Revenue — Intemperance — Anecdote 
of Hamooda — Description of Carthage — Cisterns and Aqueduct 
—Remains of a Temple — Appearance during the Fourth and 
Fifth Centuries— Details by Edrisi — Remark by Chateaubriand — 
Bizerta — Utica — Hammam Leif — Sidi Doud — Kalibia — Ghurbu 
— Nabal — Keff — Tubersoke — Herkla — Sahaleel — Monasteer — 
Lempta — Agar — Demass — Sallecto — Woodlif— Gabes — J^mme 
— Sfaitla — Gilma — Casareene — Feriana. 

Tunis, though the smallest of the Barbary States, 
is by no means the least important. Comprehend- 
ing the territory which once belonged to Carthage, 
it affords to the reader many interesting recollec- 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 263 

tions, and still presents the memorials of some of 
the most striking events that mark the history of 
those great nations which contended for universal 
empire on the shores of the Mediterranean. 

The lands included in this pashalic consist chiefly 
of a peninsular projection on the African coast, 
stretching into the sea in a north-easterly direction 
so as to approach within less than 100 miles of the 
island of Sicily. The river Zaine, or Tusca, forms 
the western boundary, separating it from the do- 
minion of Algiers. From Cape Roux, in longitude 
9° 30' E., and latitude 37° N., the coast extends 
eastward to Cape Bon, with a slight inclination to 
the north. After turning that point, it takes a 
south-eastern direction, terminating at the populous 
island of Jerba, where it touches the border of Tri- 
poli, — the whole forming an irregular line nearly 500 
miles in length. The breadth, reckoning from north 
to south, varies from 100 to 200 miles, according as 
the Atlas range, which divides it from the Blaid al 
Jerid, approaches or retires from the sea. The only 
rivers of importance are the Mejerdah, — the Bagrada 
of Roman authors, — which, after winding through a 
picturesque and fertile country, falls into the Medi- 
terranean between Cape Carthage and Porto Farina ; 
and the Wad el Kebir, — the ancient Ampsaga, — 
whicji finds its outlet into the same great basin thirty 
miles east of Jigel. The Gulf of Tunis, one of the safest 
in this part of the world, runs up between Cape Bon 
and Cape Farina ; and, including the bay, its compass 
is about 120 miles, in every section of which there is 
excellent anchorage not far from the land,* 

* Blaquiere, vol. ii. p. 135. Conder's Dictionary of Geography, 
p. 673. Balbi, Abrege de Geographie, p. 879. 



264 TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 

In our general history of the Northern Shores of 
Africa, we brought down the annals of this petty mo- 
narchy until it was subdued by the Saracens. It was 
mentioned that the victorious Arabs placed the seat of 
their government at Kairwan, where a viceroy, with 
the title of Emir, or Prince of the Believers, was 
invested with supreme power. This species of dele- 
gated authority, amidst various wars and partial 
revolutions, continued till the year 1206, when a 
combination of events elevated the Almahades, a 
new dynasty, to the throne of Morocco, with a ju- 
risdiction which extended over all the provinces of 
Barbary. The governor, whom this family nomi- 
nated to Tunis, soon aspired to independence, and 
left his son, Abou Ferez, in the possession of so 
much influence as enabled him to contend with his 
sovereign for the command of the whole country, 
and, finally, to acquire the local honours of sultan. 
His court is said to have been regulated in the most 
splendid manner, and his system of administering 
public affairs is extolled as at once moderate and suc- 
cessful. His bodyguard consisted of 1500 Chris^ 
tians, besides which he had always on foot an im- 
mense army to repel invasion. There was also a 
national council, composed of 300 persons, distin- 
guished for their probity and experience, without 
whose advice he undertook not any thing of import- 
ance. This comparatively happy condition was 
a long time enjoyed by the Tunisians, though they 
suffered an occasional annoyance from the kings of 
Fezzan, who had assumed a warlike attitude, and 
even advanced at the head of their tumultuary fol- 
lowers to the margin of the great sea. It may there- 
fore be asserted, that the government of Tunis was 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



265 



not exposed to any serious interruption till the be- 
ginning of the sixteenth century, when Muley Hassan 
was deposed by Hayradin Barbarossa, — an occur- 
rence which we shall immediately explain with some 
degree of minuteness.* 

In the year ]270, when this regency was under 
the dominion of a prince whom the French historians 
call Omar El Muley Moztanca, Louis IX. was in- 
duced to invade its shores. To religious motives, 
which at that time were professed by all the sove- 
reigns of Europe, there was added in this case a 
strong political consideration. The pirates of Tunis 
infested the Mediterranean ; they intercepted the 
succours sent to the Christian armies in Palestine ; 
and they furnished the sultan of Egypt with horses, 
arms, and troops. The destruction of this haunt of 
banditti was therefore a point of some consequence, 
as it would facilitate future expeditions to the Holy 
Land. The crusaders accordingly entered the bay 
in the month of July, and took possession of the na- 
tive land of Hannibal in these words, — " We put you 
to the ban of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of Louis, 
king of France, his lieutenant." 

This monarch resolved to reduce Carthage, on the 
ruins of which several new edifices had been re- 
cently built, before he laid siege to Tunis, then an 
opulent, commercial, and fortified city. He dis- 
lodged the Saracens from the tower which defended 
the cisterns ; the castle was carried by assault, and 
the new city followed the fate of the fortress ; but, 
says Chateaubriand, no sooner had Louis crossed 
the seas than prosperity seemed to forsake him ; as 
if he had been always destined to exhibit to the in- 

* Letters from the Mediterranean, vol. ii. p. 229. 



266 TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 

fidels a pattern of heroism in adversity. He could 
not attack Tunis till he had received the reinforce- 
ments with which his brother,, the King of Sicily, 
had promised to join him. Being obliged to entrench 
himself on the isthinus, the army was attacked by 
a contagious disease., which in a few days swept 
away half of his troops. The African sun con- 
sumed men accustomed to live beneath a milder 
sky. To increase the sufferings of the French, the 
Moors raised the burning sands by means of ma- 
chines, and, scattering it before the southern breeze, 
exposed the Christians, by this fiery shower, to 
the effects of the kamsin, or terrible wind of the 
desert. Incessant engagements exhausted the re- 
mains of their strength : the living were not suffi- 
cient to bury the dead, whose bodies were thrown 
into the ditches of the camp, which were soon com- 
pletely filled with them. 

The principal nobility and the king's favourite 
son, the Count of Xevers, had already expired, when 
Louis found himself attacked by the disease. He 
was sensible from the first moment that it would 
terminate fatally, and that this shock could not fail 
to overpower a body worn out with the fatigues of 
war, the cares of a throne, and those painful vigils 
which he devoted to religion and to his people. 
Feeling his end approaching, he desired to be placed 
upon a bed of ashes, where he lay with his hands 
folded upon his bosom, and his eyes raised towards 
heaven. Meantime the fleet of the Sicilian monarch 
appeared on the horizon, while the plain and hills 
were covered with the army of the Moors. Amid 
the wrecks of Carthage, the Christian army present- 
ed an image of the profomidest grief ; a deathlike 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 267 

silence pervaded it, and the expiring soldiers, leav- 
ing the hospitals, crawled over the ruins to ap- 
proach their dying monarch. 

At this crisis the trumpets of the Sicilian crusad- 
ers sounded, and their ships touched the shore, bring- 
ing succours which were no longer available. This 
signal not being answered, their royal commander 
was astonished, and began to apprehend some dis- 
aster. He landed; he beheld the sentinels with 
their pikes reversed, while the dejection visible in 
their faces expressed their grief much more strongly 
than this mark of military mourning. He flew to 
the tent of his brother, and found him extended 
lifeless on the humble bed which he had chosen. 
The expedition which had been the fruit of so much 
care, and was attended with such intense suffering, 
now proved to have been undertaken in vain.* 

More than 100 years elapsed before the affairs of 
Tunis again attracted the notice of Christian states. 
About the beginning of the sixteenth century, a sud- 
den revolution happened, which, by rendering the 
seaports of Barbary formidable to Europeans, has 
made their history more worthy of attention. This 
event was brought to pass by two individuals born in 
a low rank of life, — Horuc and Hayradin, — sons of 
a potter in the isle of Lesbos. These youths, prompt- 
ed by a restless spirit, forsook their father's trade, 
ran to sea, and joined a crew of pirates, among whom 
they soon distinguished themselves by their valour 
and activity. Having collected several ships, the 
elder brother, who, from the red colour of his beard, 
obtained the name of Barbarossa, was appointed ad- 
miral, while Hayradin was nominated second in 

* Travels in Greece, Palestine, Egypt, and Barbary, vol. ii. p. 298. 



263 TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES, 



command. They called themselves the friends of 
the sea. and the enemies of ail who sailed upon it ; 
and their characters soon became terrible, from the 
walls of Constantinople to the Straits of Gibraltar. 

a. d. 151& As their fame and power extended, so 
did their ambitious views : and while acting as cor- 
sairs, they gradually adopted the ideas and acquired 
the talents of conquerors. Their attention was na- 
turally drawn to the coast of Barbary, as a conve- 
nient situation for an establishment, whence they 
might send forth their cruisers against the commer- 
cial states of Christendom. An opportunity soon 
occurred for accomplishing their object. The King 
of Algiers, having tried several times, without suc- 
cess, to take a fort which the Spanish governor of 
Oran had built in the vicinity of his capital, was 
induced to apply for aid to Barbarossa, whose valour 
and skill were highly prized. The wily pirate gladly 
accepted the invitation; and leaving his brother 
Hayradin with the fleet, he marched at the head of 
50O0 men to Algiers, as the ally of Eutami, the 
short-sighted monarch. Such a force gave him the 
command of the town ; and seeing no reason to ap- 
prehend a serious opposition on the part of the native 
troops, he forthwith murdered their sovereign and 
proclaimed himself king in his stead. His liberality 
to the several chiefs procured their acquiescence in 
this violent change ; upon which he attacked the 
neighbouring ruler of Tremezen, whom he vanquish- 
ed in battle and deprived of his lands. At the same 
time he continued to infest the coasts of Spain and 
Italy with fleets, which resembled the armaments of 
a great nation rather than the light squadrons of a 
piratical commander. 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 269 

a. d. 1518. Their frequent and cruel devastations 
obliged the Emperor Charles V. to furnish the Mar- 
quis de Comares, governor of Oran, with troops suf- 
ficient to attack him. This officer, assisted by the 
dethroned king of Tremezen, executed the commis- 
sion with such spirit, that Barbarossa, being beaten 
in several encounters, shut himself up in the capital 
of the prince just named. After defending it to the last 
extremity, he was overtaken in attempting to make 
his escape, and slain, while he fought with an obsti- 
nate courage not unworthy of his former exploits. 

The sceptre of Algiers now fell to Hayradin, who 
is likewise known to history by the epithet of Red- 
beard. His ambition and abilities, which were not 
inferior to those of his brother, were seconded by a 
more propitious fortune. Dreading the vengeance 
of the Europeans, and the treachery of his own sub- 
jects, he put his dominions under the protection of 
the grand seignior, and received from him in return 
a body of Turkish troops sufficient for his security 
against domestic, as well as foreign enemies. As 
the fame of his achievements daily increased, Soly- 
man offered him the command of his fleet, as the 
only person whose skill and resolution entitled him 
to take the sea against Andrew Doria, the greatest 
admiral of that age. Proud of this distinction, he 
repaired to Constantinople, where he gained the en- 
tire confidence of the sultan and his vizier. To 
them he communicated a scheme which he had 
formed for making himself master of Tunis, the 
most flourishing kingdom at that time on the coast 
of Africa ; and this being approved by them, he ob- 
tained whatever force or other means he demanded 
for carrying it into execution. 



270 TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 

His principal hopes in this expedition were found- 
ed on the intestine divisions which then prevailed 
in the kingdom of Tunis. Muley Hassan, the 
youngest son of Mohammed, the late ruler of that 
country , had, through the influence of his mother, 
been raised to the government, and signalized the 
beginning of his reign by putting to death all the 
members of his family whom he could get into his 
power. Alraschid, one of the eldest of his brothers, 
finding a retreat among the Arabs, made several at- 
tempts to recover his throne ; but failing of success, 
and being apprehensive that his faithless allies would 
deliver him up into the hands of the tyrant, he im- 
plored the protection of Barbarossa, who received 
him with every mark of friendship and respect. Be- 
ing about to sail for Constantinople, he easily pre- 
vailed upon the unfortunate prince to accompany 
him thither ; assuring him that the head of the em- 
pire would make haste to redress his wrongs, and 
lend to his cause the most effectual aid, in men as 
well as in the munitions of war. It was then that the 
treacherous pirate opened to the sultan his plan for 
reducing Tunis to the obedience of the Turks ; 
making use of Alraschid's name, and co-operating 
with the party who longed for his restoration. 

A powerful fleet and numerous army were soon 
assembled; but the unhappy son of ^Mohammed 
was not permitted to accompany them, being, at the 
very moment the expedition was about to sail, ar- 
rested by the order of his imperial highness, and 
thrown into confinement. Barbarossa in due time 
appeared before Tunis, announcing to the inhabit- 
ants that he had come to assert the rights of their 
legitimate sovereign. Muley Hassan, whose severe 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 271 



rule had alienated the affections of his subjects, soon 
found himself compelled to fly ; the people took 
arms in behalf of their exiled prince ; and the gates 
were opened to the valiant hero who had with so 
much apparent generosity espoused his interests. 
But when Alraschid himself did not appear, and 
when, instead of his name, that of Solyman alone 
was heard among the acclamations of the foreign 
soldiers, the citizens began to suspect the duplicity 
of which they had been made the victims. It was 
in vain for the conqueror to repeat his asseverations, 
that their king had been left sick on board the ad- 
miral's galley ; their apprehensions and resentment 
could not be calmed ; they accordingly resumed 
their weapons with the utmost fury, surrounding 
the castle into which he had led his troops. But he, 
having foreseen such a result, was not unprepared 
for it ; he immediately turned against them the ar- 
tillery on the ramparts ; and soon forced them to 
acknowledge the grand seignior as their lord para- 
mount, and to submit to himself as his lieutenant. 

The fortunate corsair lost no time in preparing 
for whatever attack might be made upon him from 
within or from without. He strengthened the cita- 
del which commands the town, and fortified the Go- 
letta in a regular manner, making it the principal 
station for his fleet, and the great arsenal for naval 
as well as military stores. He now resumed his 
depredations on the Christian states with more de- 
structive violence than ever ; spreading his cruisers 
over the whole of the Mediterranean. The eyes of 
all the maritime powers were directed to the em- 
peror, whose territories in Italy and Spain were ex- 
posed in a particular manner to the ravages of the 



272 TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



Tunisian plunderers. At the same time, Muley 
Hassan, who in his turn had become a suppliant, 
applied to Charles as the only person who could 
effectually assert his rights in opposition to so for- 
midable a usurper. 

a. d. 1555. Having made due preparations for war 
upon the barbarian chief, the emperor set sail on the 
1 6th July from Cagliari, in Sardinia, his fleet consisting 
of nearly five hundred vessels, and having on board 
some of the best-disciplined troops in Europe. The 
united strength of his dominions, indeed, had been 
called out to take part in an enterprise in which 
he was about to hazard his glory. A Flemish 
squadron had conveyed from the harbours of the 
Low Country a body of German foot ; the galleys 
of Naples and Sicily took on board the veteran 
bands of Italians and Spaniards who had distin- 
guished themselves by so many victories over the 
French; he himself embarked at Barcelona with 
the flower of the Spanish nobility, and was joined 
by a considerable flotilla from Portugal, commanded 
by Don Louis, brother to the empress. Andrew 
Doria conducted his own ships, the best appointed 
at that time in Europe, and directed by the most 
skilful officers. The Pope furnished all the assist- 
ance in his power towards so pious an undertaking ; 
and the knights of Malta, the avowed enemies of 
the infidels, equipped some light-sailing vessels, 
which, though small, were rendered formidable by 
the valour of their crews and commanders. Doria 
discharged the office of high-admiral ; while the 
Marquis de Guasta acted under his master as lieu- 
tenant-general of the army. 

Barbarossa, who, in the mean time, remained not 
5 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 2J3 

ignorant of these immense preparations, had re- 
course to the most vigorous and prudent means for 
the defence of his new conquest. He summoned his 
cruisers from their different stations; drew from 
Algiers his whole disposable force ; and despatched 
messengers to all the African princes, whom he con- 
trived to alarm by the intelligence that the Chris- 
tian powers had combined to extirpate the Moham- 
medan faith on the southern shores of the Mediter- 
ranean. This appeal to their bigotry and national 
pride was answered by the appearance of 20,000 
horsemen, with a large body of foot, under the walls 
of Tunis. But his trust was chiefly reposed in the 
Turkish soldiers, most of whom were armed and 
disciplined after the European fashion, and in the 
strength of the Goletta, which had been carefully 
supplied with all things necessary to withstand a 
protracted siege. The command of the garrison 
was confided to Sinan, who, though a Jew by birth, 
had professed his belief in the Prophet, and was es- 
teemed the boldest and most experienced of all the 
piratical leaders. His courage and talents, however, 
were found unavailing against the batteries which 
played upon the fort, from the sea as well as the 
land. The place was taken by storm on the 25th 
July, when the Tunisian fleet, amounting to nearly 
ninety sail, the arsenal, and about three hundred 
pieces of brass cannon, fell into the hands of the as- 
sailants. 

The son of the Lesbian potter, though he felt the 
full weight of the blow which he had received, did 
not sink under it. Despairing, however, of defend- 
ing the walls of the city against a force so well ac- 
quainted with all the arts of attack, he resolved to 

R 



274 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES, 



advance at the head of the army, whose numbers 
were not under 50,000, and to provoke the invaders 
to an engagement. He proposed, at the same time, 
to his principal officers, that, as there were 10,000 
Christians confined in the citadel, a general massacre 
should be ordered before they marched, as it would 
prove extremely hazardous, should the ^Moslem be 
worsted in the field, to have so large a body of men 
menacing their rear. They all warmly approved 
of the intention to fight ; but, inured as they were 
to scenes of bloodshed, the suggestion as to the Xa- 
zarene slaves filled them with horror. It was, 
therefore, resolved to spare their lives ; though the 
issue proved that the humanity of Barbarossa was 
more at fault than his foresight or policy. 

The Europeans, who, encamped amid the sand, 
would soon have suffered from the intemperance of 
the climate, were not less desirous than their oppo- 
nents to terminate their labours by a battle. Each, 
accordingly, advanced to meet the other. The 
Moors and Arabs rushed on to the attack with loud 
shouts : but their undisciplined courage could not 
long withstand the shock of regular battalions ; and 
though Barbarossa, with great presence of mind, 
endeavoured to rally them, the rout soon became so 
general, that he himself was hurried along with 
them in their flight back to the city. There he 
found everything in the utmost confusion ; some of 
the inhabitants preparing for flight ; others ready- 
to throw open the gates to the conquerors ; the 
Turkish soldiers on the point of retreating : and the 
citadel, which, in different circumstances, might have 
afforded him some refuge, already in the possession 
of the Christian captives. These unhappy men, ren- 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 275 

dered desperate by their situation, had laid hold on 
the opportunity which Redbeard dreaded. As soon 
as the army was at some distance from the town, 
they prevailed upon the keepers to knock off their 
fetters ; and bursting open the prisons, they over- 
powered the Turkish garrison, and turned the ar- 
tillery of the fort against their savage masters. 
Filled with rage and disappointment, the Viceroy 
of Tunis left the scene of his former triumph, and 
fled with precipitation to Bona. 

Charles proceeded slowly towards the city, not 
knowing that it was already secured for him by the 
insurrection of the Christian prisoners, and that all 
regular opposition had ceased. It is probable that 
he would have treated with lenity a people who 
had been ensnared into rebellion, and compelled to 
acknowledge a foreign crown, while they imagined 
that they were fighting for their lawful sovereign. 
But the impatience of his victorious troops prevented 
all deliberation ; for, fearing lest they should be de- 
prived of booty, they rushed suddenly and without 
orders into the town, and began to kill and plunder 
without distinction. Above thirty thousand of the 
innocent inhabitants perished on that unhappy day, 
and ten thousand were carried away as slaves. Mu- 
ley Hassan took possession of a throne surrounded 
with carnage, abhorred by his subjects, on whom 
he had brought such calamities, and pitied even by 
those whose rashness had been the occasion of them. 
The emperor lamented the fatal accident which had 
stained the lustre of his victory ; and amid such a 
scene of horror there was but one spectacle that 
afforded him any satisfaction. Ten thousand Chris- 
tian slaves, among whom were several persons of 



276 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES, 



distinction, met him as he entered the town ; and, 
falling on their knees, thanked and blessed him as 
their deliverer. 

At the same time that Charles made good his 
promise to the Moorish king, of re-establishing him 
in his dominions, he did not neglect what was ne- 
cessary for bridling the power of the African cor- 
sairs, for the security of his own subjects and the 
interests of his dominions. In order to gain these 
ends, he concluded a treaty with Muley Hassan on 
the following conditions: — '-'That he should hold 
the kingdom of Tunis in fee of the Spanish crown, 
and do homage to the emperor as his liege-lord : 
that all the Christian slaves now within his terri- 
tory, of whatever nation, should be set at liberty 
without ransom ; that no subject of the emperor 
should for the future be detained in servitude; 
that no Turkish corsair should be admitted into any 
of his ports ; that free trade, together with the unre- 
strained exercise of their religion, should be allowed 
to all the emperor's subjects : that Charles should not 
only retain the Goletta, but that all the other sea- 
ports in the kingdom which were fortified should 
be put into his hands ; that Muley Hassan should 
pay annually 12,000 crowns for the subsistence of 
the Spanish garrison in the Goletta ; that he should 
enter into no alliance with any of the emperor s 
enemies, and should present to him every year, as 
an acknowledgment of his vassalage, six Moorish 
horses, and as many hawks." Having thus settled 
the affairs of Tunis, the victorious monarch return- 
ed home; being prevented by tempestuous wea- 
ther, and the appearance of sickness among his 
troops, from pursuing Barbarossa, who could not 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 2J7 

be expected to resign power without a farther 
struggle.* 

The subsequent portion of this adventurer's ca- 
reer may be partly traced in the maritime war which 
succeeded the alliance formed between the Grand 
Turk and Francis the First. In the year 1543,, he 
sailed with a fleet of a hundred and ten galleys, and, 
coasting along the shore of Calabria, made a descent 
at Reggio, which he plundered and burnt ; and, ad- 
vancing from thence to the mouth of the Tiber, he 
stopped there to water. The citizens of Rome, ig- 
norant of his intentions, and filled with terror, be- 
gan to fly with such general precipitation, that the 
city would have been totally deserted had not an 
assurance been given by the French envoy that no 
violence would be offered to any state on friendly 
terms with the king his master. From Ostia, the 
pirate-chief directed his course to Marseilles, where 
he was joined by the Count D'Enghien, at the head 
of a powerful armament ; whence, after a short de- 
lay, the combined squadrons proceeded towards Nice. 
There, to the astonishment and scandal of all Chris- 
tendom, the lilies of France and the crescent of 
Mohammed appeared in conjunction against a for- 
tress on which the cross of Savoy was displayed. In 
short, the assistance received from Solyman was at- 
tended with so much odium, that the Gallic monarch 
dismissed Barbarossa, who, after ravaging at plea- 
sure the coast of Naples and Tuscany, returned with 
his ships to Constantinople. 

The successors of Muley Hassan held Tunis till 
1574, when the Spaniards, who protected them, were 

* See History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V., vol. iii. 
p. 90 ; and Cardonne, Hist, de l'Afrique, tome iii. p. 55-73. 



278 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES 



expelled by Sultan Selim II. who wrested the Go- 
letta from Philip, and put an end to the Moorish 
dynasty. The Turks assumed the government, 
which was administered by the aid of a large body 
of janizaries, and a divan chiefly composed of mili- 
tary men. At length the people, who complained 
loudly of the tyranny exercised upon them by their 
new rulers, were permitted, after the manner of the 
Algerines, to elect their own dey, — an officer whose 
functions approached nearer to royalty than those 
formerly discharged by the pasha. The first of 
these did not long enjoy his dignity, being assassi- 
nated soon after his elevation. He was succeeded 
by Ibrahim, who, perceiving the danger with which 
he was surrounded, relinquished his authority and 
retired to Mecca : assuming for this purpose the pre- 
text of devotion, though obviously influenced by the 
fear of encountering a fate similar to that which had 
carried off his predecessor. In fact, of twenty-three 
who were raised to this perilous distinction, only five 
escaped murder or expulsion. 

Towards the close of the seventeenth century, the 
beys of Tunis became possessed of the chief autho- 
rity. A regular monarchy was then established; 
and Mohammed Bey, the author of the revolution, 
was made the first sovereign. But this new order of 
things was no sooner established than deranged; for 
the Dey of Algiers, taking offence at the Tunisians, 
laid siege to their city, drove their monarch from 
his throne, and substituted in his place Ahmed Ben 
Chouques. The fugitive prince, however, who soon 
collected a band of followers anions the Arabs, re- 
covered his right by force of arms, and at length 
bequeathed the supreme power to his brother, whose 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 279 

name was Ramadan. The mild character of this 
last promised his subjects a tranquil reign ; but 
their hopes were disappointed by the guilty ambi- 
tion of his nephew Morat, who rebelled against him, 
and took away his life. Of this usurper the govern- 
ment was cut short by Ibrahim Cherif, a Turk, who 
put a period to it by assassinating him in the month 
of June 1702. The author of such a benefit was 
by the people judged worthy of the succession; but 
as the fortune of war was unpropitious to him, he 
fell into the hands of the Algerines, and afterwards 
obtained his liberty only to lose his head. The army 
elected Hassan Ben Ali, the grandson of a Greek 
renegado, to be his substitute ; and with this ob- 
scure personage originated the family which has held 
the sceptre of Tunis without interruption until the 
present day. 

Ambition and treason have no doubt repeatedly 
disturbed the succession among brothers and cou- 
sins, who, in order to possess even a precarious au- 
thority, hesitated not to imbrue their hands in one 
another's blood. But since 1782, peace and security 
have generally prevailed. The remembrance of past 
calamities, and the example of Algiers, have taught 
the Tunisians to guard against the restless disposi- 
tion of the Turks, and to exclude them carefully 
from any share in the government. The beys have 
therefore endeavoured to abolish, by degrees, the 
power which they had usurped ; they have made a 
point of keeping them out of all the important places 
of administration ; and suffered them to fill such 
only as have but a mere shadow of influence attach- 
ed to them. Thus, though the reigning family may 
be looked upon as Turkish, since Hassan Ben Ali, 



280 TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 

their founder, was descended from a Greek, the ac- 
tual government is nevertheless decidedly Moorish.* 

It is mentioned by a late traveller, that the au- 
thority of the bey, which was originally in some de- 
gree limited, is now become practically absolute, so 
that the members of the divan have little weight on 
his decisions. When, therefore, they are called to- 
gether, it is merely to give a colour to his proceed- 
ings ; and though by the letter of the constitution 
they are invested with the privilege of electing their 
ruler, whose office is not strictly hereditary, the de- 
cision in this important matter is usually pronounced 
by the relatives of the deceased monarch, who are 
supposed to be best acquainted with the talents of 
the royal progeny. f 

The bey is supreme magistrate and judge in his 
own dominions. He passes a considerable part of 
each day in the hall of justice, and constant habits 
of observation have made him such a physiognomist 
that, where self-interest does not interfere, the judg- 
ment has been seldom found to err. It is highly 
interesting to those Europeans who visit the palace, 
to see the crowds that constantly resort to the tri- 
bunal of his highness ; for the easiest access is af- 
forded to all classes of his subjects, to whose com- 
plaints and grievances a patient ear is directed. 
Without the intervention of lawyers, his sentence 
is speedily pronounced and not less promptly exe- 
cuted ; for, on hearing the respective parties, and 
examining the evidence on both sides, he makes a 
sign with his hand, — an indication known only to 
his officers, — denoting the punishment which is to 

* Chateaubriand's Travels, vol. ii. p. 352. Memoir on Tunis. 
■J- Biaquiere, vol. ii. p. 234. 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 281 

be inflicted, whether bastinado, imprisonment, or 
the more severe penalty of death. 

But, leaving the history of this barbarian state, we 
shall advert very briefly to the actual condition of 
its principal towns, and the manners of the inhabit- 
ants. Tunis itself, the capital of the pashalic, stands 
on the western brink of a lake between twenty and 
thirty miles in circumference, which communicates 
with the gulf through the narrow entrance of the 
Goletta. The strength of the place consists in the 
several fortresses which command this approach, and 
which were formerly thought capable of defying the 
strongest fleets in Europe. When Blake, on the 
occasion already mentioned, presented himself on the 
coast to demand reparation for the injuries inflicted 
on the commerce of England, the dey desired him 
to look at the castles of Porto Farina and Goletta, 
and do his utmost. The admiral required not to 
be roused by such a bravado ; he drew his ships close 
up to the forts, and tore them in pieces with his ar- 
tillery. He sent a numerous detachment of sailors 
in their longboats into the harbour, and burnt every 
vessel that lay there. This bold action, which its 
very temerity, perhaps, rendered safe, was executed 
with little loss, and filled all that part of the world 
with the renown of his country's valour.* 

The city itself is placed on a rising ground, but 
has nevertheless the great disadvantage of being en- 
compassed by swamps and marshes, which, in a less 
favourable climate, would render it extremely un- 
healthy. It is supposed to be about three miles in 
circumference, and to contain nearly 150,000 inha- 
bitants. The number of houses has been computed 

* Hume's History of England, vol. vii. p. 254. 



282 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES, 



at 12.000; though it is acknowledged that they are 
neither lofty nor magnificent. The town, according 
to Mr M tf GilI 3 is surrounded with a miserable wall 
of mud and stone, fitted neither for ornament nor 
for use. The buildings are of mean architecture ; the 
whole city not presenting one worthy of description. 
" The bey/' says he, (e is erecting a palace, which, 
when finished, may perhaps be handsome; but it is 
buried in a dirty narrow street ; and, that nothing 
may be lost, the ground-floor is intended for shops. 
He is also building extensive barracks for his sol- 
diers. The streets are narrow, dirty, and unpaved ; 
the bazaars are of the poorest appearance, and but 
indifferently stocked with merchandise. The in- 
habitants who crowd their miserable alleys present 
the very picture of poverty and oppression/'"- 

It was at one time the intention of his highness to 
drain the lake, and to form a channel in which ves- 
sels of burthen might proceed to the town, where a 
handsome port was to be prepared, fitted to contain 
not only merchantmen, but also the national ships of 
war. Many obstacles, however, arose to prevent the 
execution of this princely design. The withdrawing 
of the water from so large a surface might, it was 
said, create bad air, and the country, which had just 
been scourged by the pestilence, might again be visit- 
ed by disease. The engineers were also of opinion that 
ten years would be necessary to complete the work, 
with the labour of 10,000 slaves, and a great outlay 
of money and materials. For these reasons the 
plan was abandoned, and he has contented himself 

* Account of Tunis, p. 56. Mr M'Gill remarks, that the popu- 
lation must be gTeat ; but in Mohammedan countries it is not per- 
mitted to number the people. 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 283 

with constructing a small harbour at the Goletta. 
Into this vessels of moderate size can enter through 
a handsome canal built of stone, in which there is at 
all times fifteen feet of water. We may add, that 
the lake is daily becoming more shallow, and will, 
it is probable, at no distant date, accomplish by na- 
tural means the object on which Hamooda was will- 
ing to expend so much labour and wealth. 

The climate of Tunis is one of the finest in the 
world, and admirably adapted for the production of 
most of those articles which, for the supply of Eu- 
rope, are brought from an immense distance. All 
the coast of Barbary is capable of bearing cotton, 
sugar, and spices of almost every kind. Indigo and 
silk might also be procured with a little care. The 
soil, too, throughout the whole state, is remarkably 
good, and, with scarcely any cultivation, renders to 
the husbandman an astonishing return. The dis- 
trict to the eastward gives in a good year even a 
hundred fold. But the contrast is great when the 
usual rains are withheld. The ground then becomes 
arid and steril ; the seed perishes in the furrow ; 
the olive appears shrivelled and withered ; and the 
flocks die for want of food. Such, it is said, was 
the dreadful spectacle in 1805, when thousands of 
human beings, as well as of the lower animals, sunk 
under the pressure of famine. 

It is remarkable, that throughout the greater part 
of the regency, the water in the springs is either salt 
or hot. There are, indeed, some fountains, such as 
those at Zowan, which supply a cool and refreshing 
beverage ; but the water used at Tunis is that 
which is collected during the winter in cisterns. 
With one of these reservoirs each house is provided ; 



284 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



and as the roofs are flat, every drop of rain is saved. 
On this subject, it is not undeserving of notice, that 
the natives of the interior, who are accustomed to 
their salt and tepid currents, not only experience no 
inconvenience from such an unpalatable draught, 
but even prefer it to the more natural state of the 
liquid in streams or fountains.* 

Mr M 'Gill observes, that the regency of Tunis was 
never on so respectable a footing as it is at present ; 
and the subject never before enjoyed such inde- 
pendence, and so great a degree of protection from 
external enemies. The troops of Hamooda, also, are 
better paid than those of any former prince ; and 
though they are much more like a band of free- 
booters than a regular army, yet they are sufficient 
to keep in check his principal foes, the Algerines, 
who cannot in any respect be pronounced better 
soldiers. It is presumed that, under his successor, 
Sidi Hassan, who ascended the viceregal throne in 
1824, the progress of improvement has not been 
checked. 

Thirty years ago, a Christian could scarcely walk 
through the streets, much less the country, without 
being insulted. This, says M. Blaquiere, seldom 
occurs now ; and although the hatred of the natives 
towards Jews and Nazarenes has not subsided in 
the least, the fear of punishment is a certain bar to 
their insolence. Even in the days of Dr Shaw, he 
could pronounce the Tunisians the most civilized 
nation of Barbary ; having very little of that haughty 
behaviour which was then very common at Algiers. 
They had for some years, if we may trust to his fa- 
vourable report, been more intent on trade and the 

* Account of Tunis, p. 62. 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 285 

improvement of their manufactures than upon plun- 
dering and cruising. 

The great body of the inhabitants are Moors ; 
the number of Jews being about 30,000, while the 
Christians are not supposed to exceed 1500. The 
people of Tunis present little in manners or usage 
peculiar to their country, or which may not be found 
among other Mohammedans. From their great ig- 
norance, they are, as might be expected, extremely 
superstitious ; and hence, most of their actions are 
guided by omens, signs, or prognostications. In their 
religion, too, they are thought to be more rigorous than 
their brethren elsewhere. Mosques which, even in 
Constantinople, maybe visited with impunity, would 
at Tunis be regarded as utterly profaned were they 
entered by any individual not of their own belief. 
It is even asserted, that for such an offence a Chris- 
tian would forfeit his life. 

The evil eye is a superstition which prevails 
greatly among the African Mussulmans. If a horse, 
mule, or any domesticated animal belonging to one 
person, be praised by another, it is considered as ir- 
retrievably lost ; and a child that is admired is ex- 
pected with certainty to meet some misfortune. The 
unlucky omen of thirteen sitting down at the same 
table, has no less influence among ignorant Turks 
and Moors than it has among certain classes in Eu- 
rope, who maintain that the same individuals will 
never meet again. A strange belief obtains among 
the people of Barbary, which they say is founded on 
an ancient prophecy, that their country is to be taken 
from them on a Friday, during the hour of prayer at 
noon. For this reason the gates of their cities are 
carefully locked during that service, and no one is 



280 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES, 



allowed to pass until the mid-day devotion is ended. 
It is also predicted, that the country is to be taken 
by a people clothed in red ; and they themselves an- 
ticipate that this exploit is to be achieved by the 
English. " It will certainly be a matter of regret," 
says Mr M'Gill, (i if the prophecy is not fulfilled/'* 

Before their armies march on any expedition, the 
astrologers are employed to watch the rising of a 
particular star. Should it attain the horizon in a 
clear sky, they augur good, discharge their artillery, 
and plant the standard round which the camp is to 
be formed ; but if it rise obscured by clouds or by a 
fog, they consider the omen unfavourable, and defer 
the display of their national flag until another day. 
When the camp breaks up, which is usually esta- 
blished near the bey's palace, a pair of black bulls 
are sacrificed as the commander passes. The arrival of 
a detachment to join the main army was attended with 
impressive circumstances. Before entering the gates 
of Tunis, we are told, they grounded their colours 
and arms, knelt down and prayed. After this cere- 
mony they advanced into the city ; when the ladies 
from the roofs of the houses saluted them with their 
i( loo-loo" and the men answered by the discharge 
of their muskets. 

The floors here are said to be less jealous of their 
wives than the Turks. The latter have them guard- 
ed and watched very strictly, whereas the former 
allow them a considerable degree of freedom. They 
are served by Christian slaves, and fear less to be 
seen uncovered by them than by their own country- 
men. It is doubtful, however, whether this greater 
liberty does not arise from the contempt or indiffer- 
* Account of Tunis, p. 8J. 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 287 




Moorish Lady and Fashionable Moor. 



ence with which they regard all mankind who do 
not profess the Mohammedan faith. The cut in- 
serted above represents a lady of condition, accom- 
panied by one of the other sex in the same rank of 
society. 

The Tunisians have a curious custom of fattening 
their young women for marriage. A girl, after 
she is betrothed, is cooped up in a small room, when 
shackles of gold and silver are put upon her ankles 
and wrists as a piece of dress. If she is to be united 
to a man who has already had a wife, the shackles 
which the former spouse wore are put upon the new 
bride's limbs ; and she is fed till they are filled up 
to the proper thickness. The food used for this pur- 



288 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



pose, worthy of barbarians, is a seed called (trough ; 
which is of an extraordinary fattening quality, and 
also famous for rendering the milk of nurses rich 
and abundant. With this and their national dish 
cascasou, the young female is literally crammed, 
and many, it is asserted, die under the spoon. 

It is hardly necessary to observe, that a plurality 
of wives is allowed in Barbary as well as in all Mo- 
hammedan countries. A man, it is well known, 
may have four, and as many concubines as he can 
maintain. It seldom happens, however, that a Moor 
has more than two at the same time ; but the cere- 
mony of divorcing them is so simple, that he may 
change as often as he finds it convenient. 

This people show great respect to their dead rela- 
tions. On holidays they are to be seen praying at 
their tombs, which are kept clean, and whitewash- 
ed ; and any infidel who should dare to enter them 
would certainly suffer a severe punishment from 
the enraged enthusiasts. 

We require not to be told, that in Barbary the 
fine arts are totally abandoned ; and, like all other 
ignorant tribes, the Moors seek to destroy each ves- 
tige of ancient grandeur which happens to remain 
in their country. Every piece of fine marble w'hich 
they find in any w r ay polished or sculptured is stu- 
diously broken to atoms ; suspecting from its weight, 
or the care bestowed upon it, that it must contain 
money. Statues seldom escape mutilation from the 
same idea, as well as from their abhorrence of ido- 
latry, — a use to which they imagine such works must 
originally have been appropriated. They have no 
paintings in their houses; and the extreme jealousy 
of the government renders it unsafe for any who 
6 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 289 

knows the principles of the art to indulge his taste 
j even in the most private manner. Their music,, it 
is added, is of the most barbarous kind ; the bray- 
ing of an ass is sweeter than their softest note, 
whether vocal or instrumental.* 

Mr M'Gill, our best authority on this sub- 
ject, has a very bad opinion of the character of the 
Moors, who, he says, are proud, ignorant, cunning, 
full of deceit, avaricious, and ungrateful. In deal- 
ing with these barbarians, he adds, it is a mistaken 
notion on the part of Europeans to treat them either 
with friendship or delicacy ; they have no regard 
for either. If they do not commit outrages on your 
person and property, their forbearance proceeds, not 
from justice or humanity, but from fear or interest. 
The first moment that offers in which they may with 
impunity defraud or plunder a Christian, their 
hatred and thievish inclinations will be gratified. 
In order to be respected or kindly used by any of 
the Barbary powers, the rod must be kept over their 
heads. You must begin by making them sensible 
of your superiority. No concession must be granted 
but in return for something equivalent, and not un- 
til it has been repeatedly requested ; and even then 
it must be yielded with apparent reluctance. Should 
you stand in need of any thing which they can con- 
strue into a favour, you may be assured, that un- 
less through fear, interest, or some other base mo- 
tive, your wishes will not be regarded by either 
prince or subject ; for the same want of faith, ho- 
nour, gratitude, and generous spirit, beginning at 
the fountain-head, runs through the whole polluted 
stream. 



* Account of Tunis, p. 89-92. 



290 TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 

As an example of the spirit which prevails at 
Tunis, it may be mentioned, that the late bey re- 
served to himself the privilege of driving in a car- 
riage with four wheels ; and, therefore, all others, 
natives as well as foreigners, were obliged to satisfy 
themselves with a vehicle having only two. But at 
length he was smitten with the desire of riding in 
a gig ; and observing that the American consul had 
a very handsome one, he sent for it with no other 
apology than that " he needed it," and the owner 
might find another. On a second occasion his excel- 
lency remarked, that a wine merchant had a very 
fine mule, which he thought much too good for an 
individual in his line of life. He therefore de- 
manded it, as a very suitable animal for the head of 
the government to give away in the shape of a pre- 
sent ; and in this simple manner he contrived to 
maintain the state of a sovereign without encroach- 
ing upon the funds of the public exchequer.* 

Revenge is considered one of the noble qualities 
of a Moor. He retains long the remembrance of an 
injury, and will exert all the cunning and deceit of 
his character to ensnare his enemy and satiate his 
resentment. He will even so far disguise his feelings 
as to show stronger marks of friendship, until, having 
lulled suspicion and awakened confidence, he can 
fall at unawares upon his unsuspecting foe. Fight- 
ing this people with their own weapons is one mode 
of conquest, both in political and in mercantile con- 
cerns, which has been occasionally recommended ; 
and it has been seriously argued, that in order to 
deal with them to advantage, you must oppose in- 
trigue to intrigue, and injustice to injustice, other- 
* Account of Tunis, p. 92. 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 291 



wise they will be sure to overcome you. But Mr 
M'Gill, who was professionally engaged in mercan- 
tile pursuits at Tunis, justly remarks that, though 
this maxim has been much followed, honesty is 
after all the best policy ; and that a man on his 
guard against their weak arts will render them en- 
tirely futile by a systematic determination to act 
with uniform integrity himself, and never in any 
degree to submit to imposition from them.* 

From the statements already made, we are pre- 
pared to hear that the most sordid ideas pervade all 
ranks of the Moorish population. Among the lower 
class it is curious to observe that, when called upon 
to pay their dues to the prince, they uniformly plead 
inability, and make use of every protestation to sup- 
port their defence. The tax-gatherer, accustomed 
to this kind of apology, immediately puts the re- 
cusant under the bastinado ; upon which he cries 
out at the highest pitch of his voice that he will 
pay all he owes, and, generally, before rising from, 
the ground, draws forth his bag and satisfies the 
collector. On an occasion of this kind, a gentleman 
who stood by inquired of the man who had endured 
this cruel punishment, why he did not pay at once ? 
" What I" he replied, " pay my taxes without be- 
ing bastinadoed ! No ! no !" Such conduct, it is 
suggested, may arise, not only from great ignorance 
and love of money, which makes them hope to the 
last moment that they will escape, but also from the 
rapacious nature of the government, which renders 
it dangerous to appear rich.t 

The population of the regency was formerly esti- 
mated at five millions, — a mere conjecture, however, 



* Account of Tunis, p. 40. 



f Ibid. p. 41. 



292 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



as do census takes place, and no authentic records 
are kept. It is admitted that the great plague and 
famine in 1805 cut off nearly one half of their num- 
bers. — a statement which, though not a little exagge- 
rated, coincides accurately enough with the present 
aspect of the country, and the probable amount of 
the inhabitants. The great majority, of course, are 
Moors and Arabs : the Turks are not thought to 
exceed seven thousand; the Christians are not more 
numerous : and the Jews are limited by the latest 
calculation to a hundred thousand. The native 
Hebrews are distinguished from Mohammedans by 
their dress, not being allowed to wear the red cap 
under the turban : in their case it must be black, 
or dark-blue. They are sometimes very ill treated, 
but are not liable to greater exactions than the true 
believers. There is a Roman Catholic church and 
convent in Tunis, besides a chapel of the same com- 
munion in the French consulate. The number of 
members does not exceed six hundred, and they 
are all under the superintendence of a Capuchin 
friar. The Protestants are still fewer. They con- 
sisted, at no distant period, of the family of the 
English vice-consul, those of the Danish, Swedish, 
and American consuls, and a few other individuals 
not attached to the public service. Some of them 
received the sacrament in the Greek church, and 
availed themselves of the services of the priests for 
marriages, baptisms, and burials. The Greeks 
amount to about two hundred, of whom forty are 
British subjects, and a hundred and sixty belong 
to the Ottoman government : the whole, however, 
viewed as Christians; are under the protection of the 
English flag. 



■ 

I 

TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 293 

The revenue of Tunis has been stated at twenty- 
I four millions of piastres, or rather more than a mil- 
lion and a half of our money. But at present the 
public income from regular sources is supposed not 
to exceed one-fourth part of the sum just named. 
The ways and means on which the bey principally 
relies are the tithes upon the cultivation of oil, corn, 
and other products of the land ; the annual returns 
from his own grounds ; the sale of permits for the 
exportation of oil and grain, and for the importation 
of wine and spirits ; the customs, which are farmed 
every year to the highest bidder ; various monopolies, 
which are likewise farmed ; the sale of places under 
government ; a taxation on the Jews ; and, finally, a 
traffic in slaves. To these may be added occasional 
extortions from his rich subjects, the appropriation 
of their wealth when they die, and his profits in 
trade, which, as he is an extensive speculator in 
most kinds of merchandise, may be rated at a con- 
siderable amount. It is not imagined, however, that 
his highness is rich, for the expenses of his adminis- 
tration have at least equalled the revenue. His dis- 
putes with Algiers have given rise to large outlays, 
as well in building gun-boats as in maintaining a 
standing army, — circumstances which will be men- 
tioned particularly hereafter. 

Under the head of revenue, the reader is natu- 
rally reminded of the remark made by Dr Shaw, 
that, as the making of wine has been absolutely 
prohibited, the duty upon foreign growths has in- 
creased to the sum of 50,000 dollars, it being com- 
puted that the merchants import every year upwards 
of 4000 hogsheads, — a quantity, says he, very sur- 
prising indeed, were we not at the same time to con- 



294 TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 

sider the great number of Turks and Moors who 
drink here to excess,, beyond the practice, perhaps, 
of any other nation.* 

An anecdote recorded by Mr M'Gill, while it ra- 
ther confirms the charge here brought against the 
Tunisians, reflects so much credit on the memory of 
the late bey, that it must not be omitted. Hamooda, 
it is confessed, was much addicted to the use of wine ; 
and his palace had more the appearance of being oc- 
cupied by a northern than by an oriental prince. 
His slaves, who had not the same injunctions im- 
posed on them by their religion, indulged him in his 
excesses, and became his companions in riot and re- 
velry. Great outrages were committed by them 
when under the influence of strong drink ; but a cir- 
cumstance which happened during one of his de- 
bauches, about ten years after he came to the throne, 
had ever afterwards a salutary effect on his conduct. 
One night as they were over their cups, a noise was 
heard in the court-yard below. The bey impatient- 
ly demanded the occasion of it ; and finding that it 
proceeded from some people belonging to the Dey of 
Algiers, who were also making merry, he ordered 
his prime minister, Mustapha, to have them imme- 
diately strangled. This prudent counsellor, whose 
reputation for wisdom still survives in Tunis, re- 
ceived the command, but contented himself with 
putting the offenders in prison, and telling his mas- 
ter that his instructions had been obeyed. Next 
morning, when the effects of his intemperance had 
subsided, his highness inquired about the Algerines. 
Mustapha reminded him of the order which he had 



* Travels in Barbary, vol. i. p. 172. 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 295 

given the preceding night. Hamooda, almost fran- 
j tic with vexation and alarm, asked if it was execut- 
ed. The other replied in the negative, and was 
J heartily thanked by the bey, who now saw in a very 
strong light the cruelty and injustice of the sentence 
j which he had pronounced. From that moment he 
I never tasted wine nor any species of intoxicating 
liquor.* 

The state of Tunis, it is universally acknowledged, 
is much more interesting for what it once was, than 
for its modern towns, institutions, or manners. As 
the country in which Carthage stood, and wherein 
were fought the battles which decided the fate of the 
greatest nations of antiquity, it must for ever possess 
an importance that hardly any degree of civilisation 
can supersede. This famous town was built upon 
an eminence which commands a most extensive view, 
both towards the land and the water, and appears 
to have occupied a large space of ground. From an 
estimate made by Dr Shaw on the spot, he conclud- 
ed that the whole peninsula was about thirty miles 
round, and that the city may have covered nearly 
one -half of its area. On the south-eastern side, the 
sea has encroached so much upon the shore, that for 
the space of about three furlongs in length and half 
a furlong or more in breadth, the ruins lie entirely 
under water. In rowing along the beach, the com- 
mon sewers are frequently discovered ; which, being 
well built and cemented together, the great lapse of 
time has not been able to impair. The cisterns are 
other structures which have sulfered very little ; for 
besides those belonging to private houses, which are 
numerous, there are two sets which, it is evident 

* Account of Tunis, p. 20. 



2Q6 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES, 



from their magnitude, must have been the property 
of the public. The larger of these formed the grand 
reservoir, which received the water conveyed by the 
celebrated aqueduct, and consisted of more than 
twenty contiguous cisterns, each of them at least 
100 feet long and thirty broad. The smaller esta- 
blishment is in a higher situation, near the byrsa or 
castle, and seems contrived to collect the rain which 
fell upon the top of it, as also upon some adjacent 
pavements made for that purpose. This reservoir, 
it is said, might be repaired at a small expense ; the 
earthen pipes, through which the water was conduct- 
ed from the roof, requiring only to be cleansed and 
opened.-' 

Besides these, adds the traveller just quoted, 
there are no tokens left us of the grandeur and mag- 
nificence of this famous place. We meet with no 
triumphal arches or sumptuous pieces of architecture ; 
here are no granite pillars or curious entablatures : 
but the broken walls and structures that remain are 
either built in the Gothic taste, or according to that 
of the later inhabitants. These remarks, however, 
apply only to such of the ruins as respect the more 
modern buildings : for it has been already mention- 
ed, that the remains of columns, displaying all the 
beauty of the Corinthian order, are to be found scat- 
tered over the contiguous plain. 

The remains of the grand aqueduct may still be 
traced from the larger reservoir as far as Zowam, and 
from thence to Zunghar, a distance of at least fifty 
miles. It has been a work of extraordinary labour and 
expense; and that portion of it in particular which runs 
along the peninsula, was elegantly built with hewn 

* Travels in Barbary. vol. i. p. 1W. 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 297 

stone. At Arriana, a little village two miles to the 
northward of Tunis, is seen a long range of arches, 
all of them entire, seventy feet high, supported by 
columns sixteen feet square. The channel that con- 
veyed the water lies upon these arches, being high 
and broad enough for a person of an ordinary size to 
walk in. It is vaulted above, and plastered in the 
inside with a strong cement ; which, by the stream 
running through it, is discoloured to the height of 
about three feet. This sufficiently shows the capa- 
city of the channel ; but as there are several inter- 
ruptions in the aqueduct, sometimes to the extent 
of three or four miles together, it was found impos- 
sible to determine the velocity or angle of descent, 
so as to ascertain the quantity of water that might 
be every day conveyed through it to Carthage. Both 
at Zowan and Zunghar, there was a temple erect- 
ed over the respective fountains whence this copi- 
ous supply of one of the indispensable necessaries of 
life was obtained. The structure at the latter ham- 
let appears, from the ornaments still remaining, to 
have been of the Corinthian order, where there is a 
beautiful dome, adorned with three niches, placed 
immediately over the spring. These, it is more than 
probable, were intended to receive certain statues, 
representing the gods who were imagined to preside 
over running streams or living waters. 

Mr M f Gill observes, that the entire space between 
Tunis and Cape Carthage is strewed over with an- 
tiquities. He mentions, at the same time, that the 
greater cisterns are now become the habitation of 
those miserable Bedouins who remain in this part 
of the country. Near the smaller ones, towards the 
sea, are the ruins of an immense temple, of which 



298 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES 



nothing is now left but rubbish, if we except the 
subterranean passages, which, though nearly filled 
up by the earth that has been thrown into them by 
the rains of many centuries, may yet be followed 
under ground to a great extent. The whole of the 
site of ancient Carthage, indeed, is occupied by si- 
milar excavations. — denoting that one town has been 
built on the scattered fragments of another much 
more magnificent. A short while ago, an edifice was 
discovered, consisting of several apartments in a to- 
lerably perfect state, and having good paintings on 
the roof of one of the rooms. The adjoining fields, 
too, are sprinkled with small pieces of porphyry and 
verde antique, about half an inch thick and two or 
three square, which formed a sort of incrustation on 
the walls. The lofty arches seem to have been lined 
with rude mosaic-work, composed in some parts of 
marble, in others of more varied materials. On 
Mount Gamart, westward of the cape, are evident 
marks of an ancient catacomb, the dimensions of 
which must have been considerable : but no one 
dares to enter it, though it is open in different 
places. 3Iany medals, chiefly Roman, are found in 
every district, and numerous curiously- engraved 
stones ; but the Christians at Tunis are such specu- 
lators in these things, that, unless at a great price, 
none can be procured, even though of small merit. ~ 
Such are the scanty remnants of a city, the popu- 
lation of which, before the first Punic war^ amount- 
ed to 700.000, and which, when taken by Seipio, 
could not be destroyed by fire in less than seventeen 
days. It revived from its ashes, as we have already 
remarked. and had again become, in the days of 

* Ac:c-: :: T. :.>. p. 71. 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



299 



Strabo, one of the largest towns in Africa. Of its 
condition during the fourth and fifth centuries,, Gib- 
bon observes, that though it might yield to the royal 
prerogatives of Constantinople, and perhaps to the 
trade of Alexandria, or the splendour of Antioch., 
it still maintained the second rank in the West, 
as the Rome of the African world. " That wealthy 
and powerful metropolis displayed, in a dependent 
condition, the image of a flourishing republic. Car- 
thage contained the manufactures, the arms, and the 
treasuries of the six provinces. A regular subordi- 
nation of civil honours gradually ascended, from the 
procurators of the streets and quarters of the city to 
the tribunal of the supreme magistrate ; who, with 
the title of proconsul, represented the state and dig- 
nity of a consul of ancient Rome. Schools and gym- 
nasia were instituted for the education of the Afri- 
can youth ; and the liberal arts and manners, gram- 
mar, rhetoric, and philosophy, were publicly taught 
in the Greek and Latin languages. The buildings 
of Carthage were uniform and magnificent. A 
shady grove was planted in the midst of the capital ; 
the new port, a secure and capacious harbour, was 
subservient to the commercial industry of citizens 
and strangers ; and the splendid games of the circus 
and the theatre were exhibited almost in the pre- 
sence of the barbarians."* The reputation of the Car- 
thaginians was not equal to that of their country, 
and the reproach of Punic faith still adhered to their 
inconstant and subtle character. 

We have elsewhere alluded to the ravages of the 
Vandals in the fifth century, and the overthrow in- 
flicted by the Saracens in the seventh, under their 

* Decline, &c. chap, xxxiii. 



300 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



enthusiastic leaders. But it should seem, that in 
neither of these cases was the destruction entire ; 
for, in the beginning of the ninth century, con- 
siderable remains still existed of its beauty and 
strength. Edrisi, however, describes its appearance 
in the twelfth age as nothing more than a scene 
of splendid ruins. " There are/' says he, (C still to 
be seen remarkable vestiges of Roman buildings ; 
for instance, the theatre, which has not its equal in 
the world. This edifice is of a circular form, and is 
composed of about fifty arches, yet remaining. Each 
of these arches embraces a space of about twenty-three 
feet. Between every two arches is a pillar of equal 
magnitude, the two pilasters of which are about three 
feet four inches in breadth. Above each of them 
rise five rows of arches, one over the other, of si- 
milar form and dimensions, constructed of stone of 
incomparable fineness. On the top of each arch was 
a frieze, on which are seen divers figures and curi- 
ous representations of men, animals, and ships, sculp- 
tured with exquisite art. In general, it may be said, 
that the other ruins, and the finest edifices of this 
description, are nothing in comparison with the one 
now delineated." 

He next proceeds to mention the cisterns and 
aqueduct, the latter of which, he remarks, <: ex- 
tended along an infinite number of bridges, w T here 
the water flowed in an equal and regular manner. 
These bridges are composed of arches, which are low 
or of moderate height in the plain, but of great ele- 
vation in the valleys and hollows. In the present 
day it is quite dry, having ceased to flow, in conse- 
quence of the depopulation of Carthage, and be- 
cause, from the time of the fall of the city till now, 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 301 

there has been constant excavation among its ruins, 
and even under the foundations of its ancient 
edifices. Marbles have been discovered there of so 
many different species, that it would be impossible 
to describe them. An eyewitness reports, that he 
saw taken out blocks thirty feet high, and sixty- 
three inches in diameter. Nor have these spoliations 
been yet discontinued. The marbles are transport- 
ed far away to all countries ; and nobody leaves 
Carthage without carrying off considerable quanti- 
ties, either by vessels or by other means : it is a no- 
torious fact. Sometimes marble columns have been 
found thirty feet in circumference/'* 

The circumstances now detailed by the Arabian 
geographer will account, in some measure, for the 
absence of such splendid relics and gorgeous orna- 
ment, as might be expected amidst the ruins of the 
Carthaginian capital. The destructive agency of 
time, and the hands of the ignorant or the covetous, 
have produced the poverty of which Dr Shaw com- 
plains, and which every succeeding year must be 
found to increase. In the beginning of the sixteenth 
century, accordingly, the second metropolis of the 
West was represented by a mosque, a college with- 
out students, twenty or thirty shops, and the huts 
of 500 peasants, who, in their abject poverty, dis- 
played the arrogance of the Punic senators. Even 
that paltry village was swept away by the Spa- 
niards whom Charles V. had stationed in the fortress 
of the Goletta. At this epoch we therefore may say 
that even the ruins of Carthage have perished.t 

* This passage, translated from the original Arabic by M. Ame- 
dee Jaubert, was inserted in the Jour. Asiatique for May 1828. See 
Modern Traveller, vol. i. p. 237. 

•j- Decline and Fall, &c. chap. lii. 



302 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



Chateaubriand relates, that, when he cast anchor 
opposite the debris of this ancient city, he looked at 
them, but was unable to distinguish what they could 
be. He perceived a few Moorish huts, a Moham- 
medan hermitage at the point of a projecting cape, 
sheep browsing among ruins, — (i ruins, so far from 
being striking, that I could scarcely distinguish them 
from the ground on which they lay."* 

The large space devoted to the capital, and the 
interesting remains in its neighbourhood, compels us 
to restrict within narrower bounds our description 
of the other cities. It may be observed in the out- 
set, that this kingdom is not divided into provinces 
and governed by viceroys like that of Algiers, but 
the whole is under the immediate inspection of the 
bey himself, who collects the tribute in person. 
For this purpose he visits, with a flying camp, once 
every year, the principal parts of it, — traversing in 
the summer season the fertile country in the neigh- 
bourhood of Keff and Beja, and in the winter the 
several districts between Kairwan and the Jerid. 
These two circuits very nearly correspond with the 
Zeugitania and the Byzacium of the ancients ; the 
former, or summer-circuit, comprehends all the land 
that lies to the northward of the Gulf of Hamma- 
met, while the latter, or winter- circuit, embraces 
the section which extends southwards from the same 
parallel. 

Beginning with the western part of Zeugitania, 
our attention is drawn to a magnificent cape, sup- 
posed to be the spot where Scipio landed in his first 
African expedition. A few miles to the southward 
is the town of Bizerta, pleasantly situated on a canal 

* Travels, vol. ii. p. 286. 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 303 

betwixt an extensive lake and the sea. It is about 
a mile in circumference, and defended by several 
fortresses ; but its chief importance, in a geographi- 
cal point of view, arises from the supposition that 
it is the Hippo Zaritus of ancient authors. 

The site of Utica, so famous for the opposition 
made by its inhabitants to the cause of Caesar, and 
for the death of the republican Cato, can no longer 
be determined. The Bagrada, the river on which it 
stood, having changed its course, and large accessions 
being made to the land by depositions from its cur- 
rent, it is now a matter of conjecture where the ruins 
of a city so intimately connected with the history 
of Africa are to be sought. 

Proceeding eastward from Tunis, the traveller, 
at the distance of six miles, reaches the town of 
Rhades, celebrated as the place where Regulus de- 
feated the Carthaginians. About a league farther 
on, in the same direction, is Hammam Leif, named 
from the hot-baths with which it abounds. Near 
this position is the village of Solyman, inhabited by 
Andalusian Moors, who, being more civilized than 
their African brethren, are very courteous to Chris- 
tians : they still retain the Spanish language. Pass- 
ing Moraisah and Sidi Doud, we come to Lowhar- 
cah, the Aquilaria of Pliny, where Curio landed 
those troops which were afterwards cut in pieces 
by Sabura. It presents various fragments of archi- 
tecture, but none worthy of particular notice. In 
this vicinity Cape Bon rears its prominent ridge, 
from which, it is said, the mountains of Sicily may 
be seen in clear weather. Fifteen miles from this 
cape is Clybea, the Kalibia of the Latins, which is 
now represented by a miserable knot of hovels. 



304 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



Ghurba, in former times Corubis, is seven leagues 
distant from the village just described. It was 
once a considerable place ; though, at present, the 
ruins of a large aqueduct, with the cisterns that re- 
ceived the water,, are the only antiquities. Nabal, 
which next succeeds, holds the place of Neapolis, 
the wrecks of which prove it to have been a consi- 
derable city, even exclusive of that part of it long 
ago swallowed up by the sea. From this point, a 
journey of two leagues brings the visiter to Ham- 
niamet, or the Dwelling of Wild Pigeons, which Leo 
Africanus informs us was built about his own time. 
The pillars, blocks of marble, and inscriptions, with 
some few other tokens of antiquity, are understood 
to have been brought from the neighbouring ruins 
of Cassir Aseite, the Civitas Siagitana of classical 
authors. In a contiguous plain is a building called 
the Manarah, a large mausoleum, nearly twenty 
yards in diameter, of a cylindrical form, with a 
vault underneath it. Several small altars, — con- 
jectured by the Moors to have been so many manara, 
or lamps displayed for the direction of mariners, — 
are placed upon the cornice. This position marks 
the boundary, on the seacoast, between the sum- 
mer and winter circuits.* 

The towns in the interior of the same division 
are not unworthy of notice. Returning to the 
western border, we meet with Beja or Bay-Jah, 
supposed to be the Vacca of Sallust, and the Oppi- 
dum Vagense of Pliny. It is still a place of consi- 

* Shaw, vol. i. p. 181. The altars bear the following inscrip- 
tion : — 

L. iEMILIO Africaxo Avunctjlo 

C. SUELLIO POXTARO PaTRUELI 

Vitellio Quarto Patri. 
6 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 305 

derable trade, — the chief mart, indeed, of the whole 
kingdom, particularly for corn, by the price of which 
all commodities are estimated. In the plain of 
Busdera, on the banks of the Mejerdah, a public 
fair is held every summer, which is frequented by 
the most distant Arabian tribes, who resort thither 
with their flocks, their manufactories, and their 
families. Near the river just mentioned is Tuburbo, 
a village inhabited by Spanish Moors. In this 
neighbourhood, a late bey planted a great variety of 
fruit-trees, which were ranged in so particular a 
manner that each species was confined to one grove, 
and thereby removed from the influence of every 
other. Thus, the orange-trees were all placed by 
themselves, without the admission of the lime or 
the citron ; and where the pear or the apple was 
gathered, there was no encouragement to look for 
the peach or the apricot. The traveller next arrives 
at Tuckaaber and Tubersoke, which present nothing 
remarkable beyond a few inscriptions which have 
now become nearly unintelligible. Passing the 
latter of these hamlets we come to Lorbus ; and at 
an equal distance from both is the ancient Musti, 
now called Abdel Abbus, where there are the re- 
mains of a beautiful triumphal arch. Upon a stone 
which may have formerly belonged to it, is the fol- 
lowing dedication : — 

Invictissimo Felicissimoque Imperatori 

AUGUSTO C^ESARI ORBIS PaCATORI 

. . . Musticensium D. D. 

Keff, known as the Sicca Veneria of Roman au- 
thors, situated about seventy miles from Tunis, is 
esteemed, in point of riches and strength, the third 
town in the kingdom. During the civil war already 

T 



306 TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



record ed, the greatest part of the citadel was blown 
up ; but it has been rebuilt on an improved plan, 
which contributes at once to its beauty and effi- 
ciency. In levelling an adjacent mount, to find 
materials for this fortress, the workmen brought to 
light an entire statue of Venus, which, however, 
was no sooner seen than it was broken to pieces by 
these barbarians. This discovery is regarded as 
at once authorizing and illustrating the epithet of 
Veneria, by which the town is distinguished. There 
was also dug up, at the same time, an equestrian 
statue, dedicated to Marcus Antoninus Rufus, which 
suffered the fate of the other. Keff, as the name 
imports, stands upon the declivity of a hill, with a 
plentiful spring of water near the centre of it. The 
following inscription can still be read on a public 
building : — 

Victori 
conturioni 
Legionario 
Ex Equite 

Romano 
Ob Munifi 
Cextiam Ordo 

SlCCENSIUM 

. . . Civi 
Et Coxdecurioni 
D. D. P. P. 

Tubersoke, about seven leagues south from Tu- 
nis, is built in the form of a crescent between two 
ridges of a very verdant mountain, and presents, 
as the sole remains of antiquity, a large pair of 
stag's horns, well delineated in low-relief, on the 
gate of an extensive edifice. To Zowan, the only 
other town in this direction, we have already al- 
luded, as one of the sources whence water was sup- 
plied to Carthage. At the present day its reputa- 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 307 

tion is confined to the dyeing of scarlet caps and the 
bleaching of linen, great quantities of both being 
daily brought thither from Tunis and Susa.* 

In Byzacium, or the winter-circuit, there are still 
towns which, either from their ancient importance, 
or the conspicuous place they hold in modern maps, 
are worthy of a brief notice. Herkla, the Heraclea 
of the Lower Empire, the Justiniana of the middle 
ages, and the Adrumetum of remoter antiquity, 
stands on the Gulf of Hammamet. Susa, a few 
miles farther to the south-east, possesses some noto- 
riety as a market for oil and fine linen, and may be 
reckoned one of the most considerable cities of which 
the Tunisians can boast. Its architectural remains, 
though not splendid, prove that it must have been 
a place of distinction, even as early as the days of 
Csesar. Passing Sahaleel and Monasteer, we ar- 
rive at Lempta, the Leptis Parva of Hirtius and 
Lucan ; of which, however, nothing now is seen 
except the ruins of a castle and some traces of its 
cothon or harbour. Agar and 13 em ass, mentioned 
by the annalist of Caesar's campaigns, still retain 
sufficient indications of strength to explain the value 
which was attached to their occupation by that mas- 
ter in the art of war. Mahedia is situated upon a 
peninsula five miles to the south of the latter of these 
towns, and appears to have been a place of great con- 
sequence. Leo Africanus says it was built by Mah- 
di, the first patriarch of Kairwan, and therefore as- 
sumed his name; but Dr Shaw remarks, there is 
something too regular in several of the remaining 
capitals, entablatures, and other pieces of the ancient 



* Shaw, vol. i. p. 191. 



308 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



masonry, even defaced as they now appear, to warrant 
the opinion that the founder of them was an Arab.* 
At Sailecto, the Sublecteof the middle ages, are the 
ruins of a castle little inferior in extent to the Tower 
of London, erected apparently for the protection of 
a small port which lies below it. Elalia, besides 
the ordinary remains of old towns, displays those of 
several cisterns, with large paved areas built over 
them, meant to receive the rain-water by which 
they were periodically replenished. These, and si- 
milar structures in this part of the country, are as- 
cribed to the Sultan Ben Aglib, a prince who, for 
his public spirit and warlike exploits, is justly held 
in the greatest veneration. Advancing along the 
shore, we observe Sbea, Ca-poudia, and the two 
islands of Karkenna, the Cerrina and the Corinitis of 
the old geographers. Here it is usual to fix the com- 
mencement of the Lesser Syrtis ; from which point 
to the island of Jerba, there is a succession of flat 
islets and sand-banks, whence the inhabitants de- 
rive much advantage in their simple fisheries. Sfax 
or Sfakus, a thriving village, carries us on to 
Thainee and Maharess, at the latter of which sta- 
tions are the relics of a fortress. Then follow on the 
line of the coast Ellamait, Suli Midthil, and Wood- 
lif. Three leagues from this last is Cabes, the Epi~ 
chus of Scylax and the Tacape of other ancient geo- 
graphers, where Dr Shaw was struck with the ap- 
pearance of a heap of ruins, among which were some 
beautiful granite pillars. They were all of them 
square, and twelve feet long ; and, on the whole, 

* El Mahdia oppidum nostris fere temporibus a Mahdi primo 
Cairoan pontifice conditum. Descriptio Africa?, p. 5J3. Shaw, 
vol. i. p. 208. 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 309 

were such as he had not seen in any other part of 
Africa. A walk of three miles conducts the stranger 
to the little village of Tobulba, whence, in a clear 
atmosphere, may be descried the island of Jerba, the 
southern boundary of the Tunisian state.* 

In regard to some of the towns now mentioned, 
M. Blaquiere supplies a few notices worthy of being 
inserted. He tells us, for example, that the popu- 
lation of Susa amounts to 8000 or 10,000 ; that the 
country around is extremely beautiful and well cul- 
tivated ; and that thirty miles in the interior there 
is a colossal amphitheatre in a high state of preser- 
vation. Gabes, or, as he writes it, Cabes, contains 
at least 30,000 souls, and the mountains in its vi- 
cinity are famous for the warlike disposition of the 
inhabitants. It is said that the sheik of this pro- 
vince can bring into the field 20,000 cavalry ; horses 
being very numerous and of a superior quality. Of 
the island of Jerba, theMeninx of Pliny, he remarks, 
that it is only separated from the continent by a nar- 
row channel, not navigable. The natives, exceed- 
ing 30,000 in number, are considered by far the most 
industrious and well disposed under his highness' 
government. Their manufactures of shawls, linen, 
and woollen cloths, have prospered uncommonly, and 
are generally esteemed the best in all Barbary.t 

In the inland parts of Byzacium, too, are some 
important places, of which we shall shortly mention 
the principal. At Kairwan, the ancient Cairoan, are 
several fragments of architecture ; and the mosque, 
which is accounted the most magnificent in Northern 
Africa, is said to be supported by an almost incre- 



* Travels in Barbary, vol. i. p. 216. 

-J- Letters from the Mediterranean, vol. ii. p. 182. 



310 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



dible number of granite pillars, — not fewer than 500. 
But no inscriptions of any value were discovered; 
and considering the comparatively modern origin of 
the place, in connexion with the character of its 
founders, such literary indications were not to be ex- 
pected. Jemme, called Tisdra in the time of Julius 
Cgesar, is distinguished by the beautiful remains of a 
spacious amphitheatre, to which allusion has been al- 
ready made, consisting originally of sixty-four rows of 
arches, and four rows of columns placed one above 
another. The highest series, which was probably an 
attic structure, is much dilapidated ; and Moham- 
med Bey, who, during the civil dissensions, used it 
as a fortress, blew up four of its arches from top to 
bottom. Viewed from the outside, nothing could ap- 
pear more entire or magnificent. As the elder Gor- 
dian was proclaimed emperor in this city, it is not 
improbable, that in gratitude to the place where he 
received the purple, he laid the foundation and de- 
frayed the expense of the building. 

But Sfaitla, formerly Sufetula, is the most remark- 
able town in Barbary for the extent and magnifi- 
cence of its ruins. First, there is a splendid trium- 
phal gateway of the Corinthian order, consisting of 
one large arch, with a smaller one on each side of 
it, having these few words of dedication remaining 
on the architrave :— 

Imp. Cesar Aug 

Oxix 



SlTFFETULEXTIUM .... 
HaXC EDIFICAVESUNT 

Et dd. p. p. 

At the end of a regular pavement, the visiter passes 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



311 



through a beautiful portico, built in the same style 
and manner as the triumphal arch, which conducts 
into a spacious court. Here are the ruins of three 
contiguous temples, of which the several roofs, por- 
ticos, and facades, are indeed broken down ; but the 
rest of the fabric, with its respective columns, pedi- 
ments, and entablatures, remains perfectly entire. 

Gilma, which has the area of a temple still re- 
maining, is supposed to have been a great city. It 
stood six leagues to the eastward of Sufetula, and 
was known among Roman authors by the name of 
Oppidum Chilmanense. The town of Casareene, the 
Colonia Scillitana of former days, claims some at- 
tention for a triumphal arch, though it be more re- 
markable for the quantity and value of the materials 
than for the beauty or elegance of the design. On 
the top there is an attic structure, having certain 
Corinthian- like ornaments bestowed upon the en- 
tablature, while the pilasters themselves are entirely 
Gothic. At the interval of seven leagues, the tra- 
veller, proceeding towards the south and west, dis- 
covers the vestiges of Feriana, which is conjec- 
tured to be the Thala repeatedly mentioned by Sal- 
lust. Its boasted grandeur is now reduced to a few 
granite pillars, which, by some extraordinary chance, 
or unwonted forbearance of the Arabs, have been 
allowed to stand on their pedestals. Advancing in 
the same direction, the eye will detect in succession 
Gaffsa, another of the strong cities of Jugurtha, and 
Gorbata, which marks the edge of the Jerid, or dry 
country, belonging to the domains of the ancient 
Getulia. 

In this neighbourhood there is a salt-water marsh, 
sixty miles long and about eighteen broad, usually 



312 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 



denominated the " Lake of ^larks," or Lowdeah, 
owing to a number of stakes placed at proper dis- 
tances, to direct the caravans in their march over it. 
Without such assistance, says Dr Shaw, travelling 
here would be both dangerous and difficult, as well 
from the variety of pits and quicksands that could 
not otherwise be avoided, as because the opposite 
shore has no other tokens to be known by, except 
some date-trees, which are not seen above sixteen 
miles at the most. Scattered over this desolate tract 
are numerous villages, the names of which have 
scarcely ever reached a European ear, and which 
are occupied by a class of Bedouins who divide their 
cares between their scanty flocks and the avocations 
of plunder, mutual hostility, and assassination. We 
travel, to use the words of the amusing author just 
quoted, <: nearly thirty miles through a lonesome 
uncomfortable desert, the resort of cut-throats and 
robbers, where we saw the recent blood of a Turk- 
ish gentleman, who, with three of his servants, had 
been murdered two days before by these miscreants. 
Here we were likewise ready to be attacked by five 
of the Harammees, who were mounted upon black 
horses, and clothed, to be the less discerned, with 
cloaks of the same colour. But, finding us prepared 
to receive them, they came up peaceably to us and 
gave us the salam. Through all this dreary space, 
we meet with neither herbage nor water till we ar- 
rive within a few miles of Elhamraa."* 

We shall not attempt to delineate the various 
gradations of barbarism which distinguish these sons 
of the Desert, nor to define the limits of name and 
territory whereby the several tribes identify their 

* Travels in Barbary, vol. i. p. 238. 



TUNIS AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 313 

members as descendants of the same patriarch. The 
Welled Seide and the Welled Mathie are in our 
eyes neither more nor less noble than the Beni Ya- 
goube, who enjoy the fertile lands of Keff, or than 
the sons of Sidi Boogannin, who pitch their tents 
near the mountains of Hydrah and Ellonleijah. 
These nomades may acknowledge the sovereignty of 
Tunis,, and allow themselves to be included in the 
winter- circuit ; but it seems not probable that the 
bey, even with his flying camp, will deem it prudent 
to exact the yearly tribute,, or to make an annual 
muster of the savage horsemen. Such neighbours, 
however remote, will for a long time prove the great- 
est bar to the introduction of European colonies, 
arts, and manners. 



314 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



% 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Regency of Algiers. 

Origin of the Term Algiers — Importance attached to its History — 
Boundaries of the State — Appearance of the Town — Its Interior 
— Population — Fortifications — Narrow Streets — History resum- 
ed — Charles V. resolves to attack Algiers — His Force — Prepa- 
rations of Hassan Aga — Storm disables the Spaniards — Loss of 
Ships and Men — Sufferings of the Army — Scattered at Sea — For- 
titude of the Emperor — These Hostilities had an earlier Origin 
— Policy of Cardinal Ximenes — Success of his Measures — 
Moors revolt, and invite Barbarossa^ — Spaniards deprived of Oran 

— Expedition of Philip V Oran destroyed by an Earthquake — 

French attack Algiers under Beaulieu — And under Duquesne — 
The City and Batteries destroyed — The Dutch, Danes, Swedes, 
Austrians.andRus sians, adopt different Measures — Engiishmake 
several Efforts to reduce the Corsairs — Insults during the Reign 
of George II — Resolutions by Congress of Vienna — Expedition 
of Lord Exmouth — Attack on Algiers — Terms acceded to — 
Captives released — French Government offended — Expedition 
under Bourmont — Account by Rozet — Present State of Algiers — 
Revenue — War between Algiers and Tunis — Bona — Tabarca — 
La Cala — Constantina — Antiquities — Mileu — Remains — Bujeya 
— Province of Titteri— Bleeda and Medea— Burgh Hamza — Au- 
zea — Beni Mezzab — Province of Tlemsan — Capital — Arbaal — 
El Herba — Maliana — Aquas CalidaeColonia — Oran — Recent His- 
tory — Inhabitants — Geeza — Carastel — Mostagan — Jol, or Julia 
Oesarea— Tefessad — Shershell— Vicinity of Algiers — French 
Government— Attempt at Colonization— Difficulties — Favourable 
Climate and Soil — European Powers invited to co-operate— Eate 
Publications on the Subject. 

The term Algiers literally signifies cc the island/' 
and was derived from the original construction of its 
harbour, one side of which was separated from the 
land. A variety of circumstances have contributed 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



315 



to bestow great celebrity on this capital, some of 
which reflect as little honour on the policy of Eu- 
ropean states as on the character of its own rulers and 
the pursuits of its inhabitants. The extent of ter- 
ritory attached to its government, or claimed by its 
chiefs, possesses very small importance in the esti- 
mation of our politicians, who for centuries have 
been wont to confine their attention to the harbours 
only of that barbarian power, whose cruisers inflict- 
ed upon the trade of Christendom more damage than 
could have arisen from a protracted war between the 
greatest of her maritime nations. Late events, and 
more especially the recent conquest achieved by the 
arms of France, have added immensely to the in- 
terest with which the history of this most warlike of 
the Barbary States has ever been regarded on the 
northern shores of the Mediterranean ; marking, it is 
to be hoped, a new era in the affairs of those Moor- 
ish oligarchies by whom the miserable natives have 
been long oppressed, and the civilisation of the most 
refined portion of the world put to the blush. 

Following the best authorities, we may observe, 
that the kingdom of Algiers is bounded on the east 
by the river Zaine, which divides it from Tunis ; on 
the west by the Mountains of Trara ; on the south 
by the Sahara, or Great Desert ; and on the north 
by the Mediterranean. The length is computed at 
480 miles, though Sanson, who probably followed 
the line of the coast, makes it not less than 900, — an 
estimate which exceeds the truth more than 100 
leagues. The breadth varies considerably at differ- 
ent places, the narrowest section, from the sea to 
the Atlas range, being about forty, while the broad- 
est amounts to 150 miles. Pananti, one of the latest 



316 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS, 



writers on the subject, assigns to it above 600 miles 
from west to east, and 180 from the northern shore 
to the Country of Dates, or Blaid el Jerid. The 
regency is divided into four provinces, — Algiers, 
Constantina, Titteri, and Mascara, or Tlemsan ; the 
first being governed by the dey in person, while the 
others are committed to the administration of cer- 
tain beys, his lieutenants. 

The territory of Algiers, with the exception of the 
parts bordering on the Desert, is less sandy and 
more fertile than that of Tunis. Desfontaines re- 
marks, in his Flora Atlantica, that he found the 
climate more temperate, the mountains higher and 
more numerous, the rains more abundant, the springs 
and streams more frequent, the vegetation more ac- 
tive and diversified. This improvement in point of 
atmospherical properties, and the fruitfulness which 
usually attends them, may be ascribed to the great 
elevation of the ridge that intersects this part of the 
African continent ; the summits of which, frequently 
covered with snow, arrest the progress of the clouds 
and condense them into rain. 

The city, which gives its name to the whole king- 
dom, rises in the form of an amphitheatre at the ex- 
tremity of a fortified anchoring-ground. The tops 
of the houses, says Joseph Pitts, in his simple man- 
ner, i( are all over white, being flat and covered 
with lime and sand, as floors. The upper part of 
the town is not so broad as the lower part, and, there- 
fore, at sea it looks just like the top-sail of a ship. 
It is a very strong place, and well fortified with 
castles and guns. There are seven castles without 
the walls, and two tiers of guns in most of them. 
But in the greatest castle, which is on the mole 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



319 



without the gate, there are three tiers of guns, many 
of them of an extraordinary length, carrying fifty, 
sixty, yea eighty pound shot. Besides all these 
castles, there is at the higher end of the town, with- 
in the walls, another castle with many guns. And, 
moreover, on many places towards the sea are great 
guns planted. Algiers is well walled, and surround- 
ed with a great trench. It hath five gates, and 
some of these have two, some three, other gates with- 
in them, and some of them plated all over with 
thick iron. So that it is made strong and conve- 
nient for being what it is, a nest of pirates/'* 

The annexed view is taken from the seashore, a 
little to the south of the city, and represents the wall 
which encompasses the town, together with the port, 
the mole, and certain marine defences. 

Perhaps the appearance of this singular place, 
when viewed from the sea, is still more striking. 
The white buildings rising in successive terraces 
have an imposing effect ; while the numerous coun- 
try-mansions scattered over a circle of hills, amid 
groves of olive, citron, and banana trees, present a 
peaceful and rural landscape very opposite in its 
character to that of a nation of pirates. But on 
entering the city the charm entirely dissolves. The 
streets are so extremely narrow that in some of them 
three persons can scarcely walk abreast. This strange 
style of building is adopted on account of its afford- 
ing a better shade from the rays of the sun, and 
more protection in case of earthquakes, by one of 
which Algiers suffered severely in 1717- The path- 
way being concave, and rising on each side, the 

* A True and Faithful Account of the Religion and Manners of 
the Mohammedans, pp. 7, 8. 



320 THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



greatest inconvenience results both to men and ani- 
mals in passing through the town ; and, accord- 
ingly,, when you meet a person on horseback, you 
are obliged to stand close by the houses to escape 
from being trampled under foot. 

There are nine great mosques and fifty smaller 
ones within the walls ; three principal schools, and 
several bazaars. Its finest public buildings are those 
of the five cassarias, which serve as barracks for the 
soldiery. The dey's palace has two fine courts, sur- 
rounded with spacious galleries, surmounted by two 
rows of marble columns ; its internal ornaments con- 
sist chiefly of mirrors, clocks, and carpets. There 
are sundry taverns kept in the city by Christian 
slaves, which are often frequented even by the 
Turks and Moors. The population has been va- 
riously estimated, on the authority of different 
writers, who must have formed their estimates on 
very vague grounds. Salame thinks there are 
20,000 houses, and that the circuit of the walls is 
not less than four miles, thereby affording a basis 
on which we might raise an exaggerated computa- 
tion as to the number of inhabitants. Shaw, who 
reduces the extent of the city to the circumference 
of a mile and a half, relates, that it is supposed to 
contain about 2000 Christian slaves, 15,000 Jews, 
and 100,000 ATohamniedans.* 

It is observed by Pananti, that though there are 
taverns in Algiers, there is no convenience in them for 
sleeping ; so that those who enter it from the coun- 
try are obliged to lodge with some friend, while 
European merchants hire apartments in the houses 

* Pananti, Narrative of a Residence in Algiers, p, 114. Travels 
in Barbary, vol. i. p. 33. 

7 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 321 

of Jews. The immediate vicinity of the town, he re- 
marks, is understood to contain about twenty thou- 
sand vineyards and gardens ; the beauty of these en- 
virons being in no respect inferior to those of Rich- 
mond, Chantilly, or Fiesole. Its effect, however, is 
much lessened when we reflect on the people into 
whose possession so fine a country has fallen. The 
landscape is truly delightful if viewed only with a 
passing and rapid glance ; but when the eye rests 
upon it, the barrenness and aridity of many spots 
are disclosed, showing the contempt of its barba- 
rous inhabitants for agriculture, the place of which 
they endeavour to supply by dedicating themselves 
to war and plunder.* 

When Dr Shaw, about a hundred years ago, re- 
sided at Algiers, the walls were weak and of little 
defence, unless where they were farther secured by 
some additional fortification. The port, we may 
subjoin on the same authority, is of an oblong figure, 
130 fathoms in length and eighty broad. The Round 
Castle at the mouth of the harbour, built by the 
Spaniards when they were masters of the island, 
and the two large batteries, were said to be bomb- 
proof, and had each of them their lower embrasures 
furnished with thirty-six pounders. The guns were 
of brass, and their carriages and other appendages 
in good order. The battery of the Mole Gate, upon 
the eastern angle of the city, was mounted with seve- 
ral long pieces of ordnance, one of which had seven 
cylinders three inches in diameter. Half a furlong 
to the south-west of the harbour was the battery of 
the Fishers' Gate, which, consisting of a double row 
of cannon, commanded the entrance into the port and 

* Narrative, &c p, 115. 

U 



322 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



the roadstead before it. But none of these fortifica- 
tions were assisted either with mines or advanced 
works ; and as the soldiers whose duty it was to de- 
fend them could not be brought to a course of regular 
discipline, a few resolute battalions, protected by a 
small fleet, would have found little difficulty in re- 
ducing the whole and expelling the garrisons.* 

The descriptions given by Pitts and Shaw, early 
in the last century, are confirmed by the actual con- 
dition of the place when attacked by the French 
and English. Salame, who in 1816 attended the 
British admiral as interpreter, and who was allowed 
to visit the capital in person, inserts in his narrative 
the following details : — (C On the north side, about a 
mile from the town, there is a small castle and se- 
veral batteries, the last of which is joined to the 
walls of the city. In this quarter they do not fear 
any thing, because there is not water enough for 
anchorage nor for landing. From this wall to the 
mole there are several batteries more, because this 
defence is erected in the centre of that part of the 
city which fronts the sea. On the north head of 
the mole there is a semicircular battery of two tiers 
of forty-four guns, called the Lion's Battery, the fire 
of which bears on the north, on the east, and on the 
south. After this is another round one, of three 
tiers and of forty-eight cannons, in the middle of 
which there is built a tower or lighthouse ; and 
they call it the Lighthouse Battery. This is sup- 
ported by another, a long one, still more strong, of 
three tiers, containing sixty- six guns, and called the 
Eastern Battery. This is flanked by four more of 
two tiers, one joined to the other, which mount 

* Travels in Barbary, toL i. p. 84. 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



323 



sixty guns,, directed towards the south-east and the 
south. On the south head of the mole there are 
two large sixty-eight pounders, twenty feet long. 
Almost opposite, there are on the city-side two small 
batteries of four guns each ; but these are followed 
by a strong battery of twenty guns and a very 
ancient building situated upon two large arches. 
From this to the south wall of the city there are 
two batteries more ; and from that to a distance of 
about a mile and a half south there are several 
other batteries and a large castle. These are their 
defences on the seaside ; but the rest of the works 
round the walls of the city, and the two castles situ- 
ated upon the hills, were too far off for me to observe 
them well : they say that the whole of their fortifi- 
cations mounted 1500 guns/'* 

It has been already remarked, that the interior 
of this barbaric metropolis does not correspond to 
the impression made upon the eye of a voyager who 
approaches it from the north-eastern point of the 
compass. The foreigner whose observations have 
just been transcribed relates, that when the envoys 
from Lord Exmouth entered the gates, they " saw 
every thing contrary to its fine appearance outside." 
The streets are very narrow, dirty, and dark, and 
were at that time full of rubbish. The buildings 
are all of stone, as well as the tops and floors of the 
houses, with very little wood. Every four or five 
tenements are bound together by arches ; and they 
have but very small windows. This city, therefore, 
could never be burned by rockets ; shells are the 
surest means for its destruction. The following view, 
taken by an eminent French artist, will give a good 

* Expedition to Algiers, p. 30, &c. 



324 THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 




View of a Street in Algiers. 



idea of the general appearance of the edifices in Al- 
giers, and some notion of the manner in which the 
native architects construct their dwellings. 

Before entering upon the topographical descrip- 
tions necessary to illustrate the present state of the 
several provinces, we shall resume the history of 
Algiers at the date when it was placed under the 
dominion of the Turks by the younger Barbarossa. 
As soon as this renowned corsair was appointed to 
the command of the Ottoman fleet, the country 
which he had conquered by arms and deceit was 
committed to the superintendence of Hassan A era, a 
renegade eunuch, who, having passed through every 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



325 



station in the pirate's service,, had gained such expe- 
rience in war as well fitted him for an office which 
required a man of tried and daring courage. Has- 
san, to show how much he deserved the dignity 
thus conferred upon him, carried on his wonted de- 
predations against the Christian states with amaz- 
ing activity, and even surpassed Redbeard himself 
in boldness and cruelty. The commerce of the Me- 
diterranean was greatly interrupted by his cruisers, 
and such frequent alarms were given to the coast of 
Spain, that there was a necessity of erecting watch- 
towers at proper distances, and of keeping guards 
constantly on foot, in order to descry the approach 
of his squadrons, and to protect the inhabitants from 
their ravages. Of this the Emperor Charles V. had 
received repeated complaints from his subjects, who 
represented it as an enterprise suitable at once to 
his power and benevolence, to reduce Algiers, which, 
since the conquest of Tunis, was become the com- 
mon receptacle of all freebooters. They urged upon 
him, not less from considerations of humanity than 
of political prudence, the duty of exterminating that 
lawless race, the implacable enemies of the Christian 
name. 

a. d. 1541. Charles, who was at war with the Sul- 
tan as well as the King of France, would have 
found ample employment for his troops on the banks 
of the Danube, as well as in the Low Countries, 
always menaced by his active enemy. But, in op- 
position to the judgment of some of his wisest coun- 
sellors, he resolved to chastise the barbarians on the 
African coast ; and with this view had already given 
orders to prepare a fleet and a large body of land- 
forces. The season unfortunately was far advanced, 



326 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



on which account the Pope entreated, and Doria con- 
jured him not to expose his whole armament to a 
destruction almost unavoidable on a wild shore dur- 
ing the violence of the autumnal gales. Adhering, 
however, to his plan with determined obstinacy, he 
embarked at Porto Venere on board the admiral's 
galley, and soon found that this experienced sailor 
had not judged wrong concerning the element with 
which he was so well acquainted. But as his cour- 
age was undaunted, and his temper often inflexible, 
the danger to which he was exposed had no other 
effect than to confirm him in his fatal resolution. 
The force, indeed, which he had collected, was such 
as might have inspired a prince less adventurous, 
and less confident in his own schemes, with the 
most sanguine hopes of success. It consisted of 
20,000 foot and 2000 horse, mostly veterans, to- 
gether with 3000 volunteers, the flower of the 
Spanish and Italian nobility, who were desirous of 
paying court to the emperor, by attending him in his 
favourite expedition, and eager to share in the glory 
which they believed was about to crown his arms. 
Besides these, there had joined his standard a thou- 
sand soldiers sent by the Order of St John, and led 
by a hundred of its most valiant knights. 

Landing near Algiers without opposition, Charles 
immediately advanced towards the town. To op- 
pose the invaders, Hassan had only 800 Turks, and 
5000 Moors, partly natives of Africa, and partly 
refugees from Spain. When summoned to surren- 
der, he, nevertheless, returned a fierce and haughty 
answer. But with such a handful of troops, nei- 
ther his desperate courage nor consummate skill in 
war could have long resisted forces superior to those 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



327 



which had formerly defeated Barbarossa at the head 
of 60,000 men, and reduced Tunis in spite of all his 
efforts to save it. The renegade, however, found in 
a physical event an auxiliary which more than 
counterbalanced the inequality of the contending 
armies ; while his antagonist saw himself exposed to 
a dreadful calamity, against which human prudence 
and exertion could avail nothing. On the second 
day after his debarkation, and before he had time 
for any thing more than to disperse some Arabs who 
molested his soldiers on their march, the clouds were 
seen to gather, and the heavens assumed a threat- 
ening aspect. Towards evening rain began to fall, 
accompanied with a violent wind ; and the rage of 
the tempest increasing during the night, the men, 
who had brought nothing ashore but their arms, re- 
mained exposed to all its fury, without tents or 
cover of any kind. The ground was soon so wet 
that they could not lie down on it ; their camp, be- 
ing in a low situation, was overflowed with water, 
and they sank at every step to the ankles in mud ; 
while the hurricane augmented to such a degree that, 
to prevent themselves from being blown down, they 
were obliged to thrust their spears into the earth, 
and lay hold of them as a support. Hassan was too 
vigilant an officer to allow so favourable an oppor- 
tunity to escape for attacking his enemy to advan- 
tage. At the dawn of day he sallied out at the head 
of his warriors, who, having been screened from the 
storm under their own roofs, were fresh and vigor- 
ous ; whereas a body of Italians, who were stationed 
nearest the city, dispirited and benumbed with cold, 
fled at the approach of his Turks. The troops at the 
next post showed indeed greater courage ; but, as the 



328 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



rain had rendered their muskets useless, and having 
scarcely strength to handle their other arms, they 
were soon thrown into confusion. Almost the whole 
army, with the emperor himself in person, was 
obliged to advance before the barbarians could be 
repulsed; who, after spreading such general con- 
sternation, and killing a considerable number of 
men, retired at last in good order. 

But all feeling of this disaster was soon obliterated 
by a more affecting spectacle. As the tempest con- 
tinued with unabated violence, the full light of day 
showed the ships, on which alone their safety de- 
pended, driving from their anchors, dashing against 
one another, and many of them forced on the rocks, 
or sinking in the waters. In less than an hour, fif- 
teen ships of war and 140 transports, with 8000 men, 
perished before their eyes ; and such of the unhap- 
py sailors as escaped the fury of the sea, were mur- 
dered by the Arabs as soon as they reached land. 
Charles stood in silent anguish and astonishment, 
witnessing this miserable scene, which at once blast- 
ed all his hopes of success, and buried in the waves 
the vast stores he had provided, as well for the 
subsistence of his troops as the conquest of the coun- 
try. At length the approach of evening covered the 
face of the deep with darkness ; and as it was impos- 
sible for the officers aboard the squadron to send any 
intelligence to their companions who were ashore, 
these last past the night in all the anguish of sus- 
pense and apprehension. Next morning, a boat 
despatched by Doria reached the land with infor- 
mation that, having survived the storm, to which 
during fifty years of a seaman's life he had never 
known any equal in fierceness and horror, he had 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 329 

found it necessary to bear away with his shat- 
tered vessels to Cape Matafuz. He advised the em- 
peror, as the sky was still tempestuous, to march 
with all speed to that place, where the army could 
re-embark with greater ease. 

This intelligence, though gratifying, did not fail 
to involve Charles in other cares. The point named 
by the admiral was at least three days' march from his 
present position ; all his provisions were consumed ; 
his men, worn out with fatigue, were hardly e^ual 
to such a movement, even in a friendly country ; 
and being dispirited by a succession of hardships, 
they were in no condition to undergo new toils. 
But, as there was no time for deliberation, the camp 
was instantly broken up ; and then the sad effects 
of what they had suffered began to appear in a 
stronger light, and deeper calamities were about to 
be added to those which they had already endured. 
Some could hardly bear the weight of their arms ; 
others, unable to force their way through deep roads, 
sank down and died ; many perished by famine, as 
the whole army subsisted chiefly on roots and ber- 
ries, or on the flesh of horses, killed for that purpose 
by the emperor's orders ; numbers were drowned in 
the swollen brooks ; and not a few were slain by 
the enemy, who, during the greatest part of the re- 
treat, harassed them day and night. When they 
arrived at Matafuz, the weather was so much im- 
proved as to allow a renewal of the communication 
with the fleet, whence they were supplied with pro- 
visions, and animated with the prospect of returning 
in safety to Europe. But in cherishing this hope 
they were only preparing for themselves a deeper 
disappointment ; for no sooner were they on board 



330 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



than, a new storm arising, the ships were scattered, 
and compelled to take refuge in the nearest ports of 
Italy or Spain. The emperor himself was driven 
back to the African coast, where he was obliged by 
contrary winds to remain several weeks ; and at 
last he reached his own dominions in a condition 
very different from that in which he finished his 
triumphant expedition against Tunis. 

It was remarked that, during these severe disas- 
ters, his fortitude and magnanimity never forsook 
him. He endured as great hardships as the mean- 
est soldier ; exposed his person to all dangers ; visited 
the sick and wounded ; and encouraged every one by 
his words and example. When the army embark- 
ed, he was among the last who left the shore, al- 
though a body of Arabs hovered at no great distance 
ready to fall on his rear. By these virtues he atoned 
in some measure for his obstinacy and presump- 
tion, in undertaking an expedition at once so fatal 
and so mortifying to his subjects.* 

These hostilities, pursued by Charles, had indeed 
their origin at a still earlier period. When, at the 
end of the fifteenth century, the Moors were expelled 
from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella, the fears and 
hatred of the Christians followed them to their new 
abode on the opposite shores. Cardinal Ximenes, 
who at that period directed the councils of his 
royal master, prevailed on him to fit out an arma- 
ment, in order to prevent the vindictive Mussul- 
mans from acquiring such a degree of strength as 
might render them formidable to the united king- 
dom of Castile and Arragon. A fleet, carrying 5000 
soldiers, proceeded from the harbour of Malaga in 

* Reign of Charles V. vol iii. p. 223. 



THE REGENCY OP ALGIERS. 



331 



the month of August 1504,, and landing near the 
fort of Marsa-Kebir, the " Portus Magnus" of the 
Romans,, took possession of it with little loss. About 
five years afterwards, the cardinal himself, whose 
zeal never cooled, assumed the direction of a power- 
ful arm anient , the object of which was to reduce 
Gran, a town not more than a league distant 
from the seaport just described. This enterprise 
was likewise crowned with complete success ; upon 
which the most reverend prelate committed the care 
of the expedition to Don Pedro de Navarro, the 
general-in-chief, after instructing him to extend his 
conquests over the whole of the adjacent country. 

The Spanish commander, upon reducing several 
places in the neighbourhood, shaped his course to- 
wards Bujeya, which fell to him without making any 
resistance. The surrender of this stronghold, which 
the Moors and Arabs deemed impregnable, was fol- 
lowed by the submission of all the others along the 
coast ; the rulers of which sent deputies to the victor 
to solicit peace, expressing their readiness to receive 
his soldiers in name of garrison, and even to become 
tributary to the crown of Castile. Algiers, which was 
then of no great importance, was the first to open its 
gates ; and it was at this conjuncture that the troops 
of Ferdinand built the fortress on the small rocky isle 
at the mouth of its harbour, which has since been en- 
larged into those magnificent defences wherein the 
piratical inhabitants have, during two centuries, re- 
posed their confidence. But the Moors soon became 
impatient of the heavy yoke imposed on them by their 
bigoted conquerors. They seized the first opportunity 
to revolt, with the view of chasing from their towns 
the infidel invaders ; in the course of which effort 



332 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



they adopted the impolitic resolution of asking the 
aid of Barbarossa, who, as we have seen, terminated 
his alliance by subjecting them to the government of 
his patron the Grand Turk. 

The Spaniards, though driven from the open 
country, still kept possession of Oran and other for- 
tified stations on the coast, which they retained till 
the year 1708, when the Algerines, taking advan- 
tage of the weakness entailed upon their enemies by 
the Succession War, succeeded in expelling the Chris- 
tian garrisons. In 1762, Philip V. sent the Count 
of Montemar, at the head of an army of 30,000 men, 
who beat the Moors, the Arabs, and the Turks, 
united, and once more established the authority of 
his sovereign in Oran and along the contiguous 
shore. This conquest was maintained down to the 
year 1790, when the place was entirely destroyed 
by an earthquake. On this melancholy occurrence, 
Charles IV., unwilling to incur the expense of re- 
building it, gave orders to evacuate the ruins ; hav- 
ing previously concluded a treaty with the dey, in 
virtue of which he ceded it to his highness, as well 
as the artillery and military stores, the greater part 
of which had been saved. Since that period, the 
Europeans have had no establishment on the coast of 
Barbary, but with the consent of the sovereign of 
Algiers and the Beys of Tunis and Tripoli. 

We find in a periodical work, a notice of another 
expedition made by Spain for the chastisement or 
recovery of Algiers. In 1775; General O'Reilly is 
said to have landed near that receptacle of freeboot- 
ers, but was compelled to re-embark in haste and 
with considerable loss.* 

* Penny Cyclopaedia, vol. i. p. 329. 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 333 

The French , though at a different period, were 
no less active than the Spaniards in their attempts 
to suppress the Barbary corsairs. In 1617, M. 
Beaulieu was sent against the Algerines with a squa- 
dron of fifty men-of-war, who defeated their fleet 
and took two of their vessels, while their admiral 
sunk his own ship and crew rather than fall into 
his enemies' hands. By such decisive measures 
Louis XIII. obtained permission to build a fort on 
their coasts in place of the one formerly occupied by 
the Marsilians, which the natives had demolished. 
This, after some difficulty, he accomplished, and it 
was called the Bastion of France ; but the situation 
being afterwards found inconvenient, the French 
purchased the fort of La Cala, and obtained liberty 
to trade with the Arabs and Moors. 

Enriched with the booty acquired in their piratical 
expeditions, and inspirited by their occasional success 
over the fleets of the greatest nations of Europe, 
the chiefs of Algiers, though they consented to make 
terms with England, France, and Holland, swore 
eternal war against the Spaniards, Portuguese, and 
Italians, whom they regarded as the most deter- 
mined enemies of the Mohammedan name. At 
length, Louis XIV., provoked by the outrages they 
committed on the coasts of Provence and Langue- 
doc, sent Admiral Duquesne, in 1682, at the head of 
a considerable force, to chastise the robbers and re- 
lease the captives who had fallen into their hands. 
These orders were executed with so much vigour, 
that the town, assailed by cannon and bombs, was 
soon enveloped in flames ; the great mosque was 
battered down, and most of the houses were laid in 
ruins. A sudden change of wind prevented him 
6 



334 THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 

from fully accomplishing his purpose ; and it was 
not till the summer of the following year that he 
poured upon the devoted inhabitants the vengeance 
of an incensed and injured kingdom. Sending 
showers of bombs into the city several successive 
days and nights, he created so much devastation 
that the army and all ranks of the state sued for 
peace. The preliminary conditions were, the sur- 
render of all Christian slaves taken under the 
French flag, and the delivery of certain hostages 
to secure a due fulfilment of the treaty ; which latter 
stipulation, as it seemed to involve the fate of two 
high officers, led to a revolution in the government, 
the murder of the dey, and the renewal of hostilities 
with greater fury than ever. 

Duquesne, enraged at this breach of faith, con- 
tinued to pour in such volleys of shells that, in less 
than three days, the greater part of the city was re- 
duced to ashes ; and the fire burnt with such vehe- 
mence, that the sea was illumined by it more than 
two leagues around. The new dey, unmoved at 
these disasters, breathed only revenge; and after 
having put to death all the French who happened 
to be in his power, he ordered their consul to be 
tied hand and foot and fastened alive to the mouth 
of a large cannon, whence he was shot away and 
blown to atoms. By this piece of inhumanity the 
admiral was so exasperated, that he did not leave 
Algiers until he had utterly destroyed its forti- 
fications, shipping, arsenals, and stores, and re- 
duced nearly the whole of its buildings to a mass 
of rubbish.* 



* Encyclopaedia Britannica, seventh edition, article Algiers. 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



335 



All the powers of Europe, indeed, who had ships 
at sea, found it necessary from time to time to inter- 
pose for the protection of their trade and the honour 
of their flag. The Dutch, for example, after several 
bloody combats, consented to pay a sum of money, 
and thereby purchase for their national colours a 
show of respect, and for their merchantmen an ex- 
emption from plunder. The Danes and Swedes, too, 
despairing of success by compulsory means, adopted 
a similar policy. The Austrians and Russians, on 
the other hand, were protected by the special autho- 
rity of the Porte, who had bound himself to that ef- 
fect by positive treaties. The Americans, about 
twenty years ago, checked by a vigorous attack the 
lawless exactions of the Algerine power. Having lost 
in battle a frigate and a brig, the dey acceded to a 
pacification, by which he consented to renounce all 
tribute, and to pay to the victors 60,000 dollars as a 
compensation for the ships his cruisers had robbed 
or otherwise injured. The Italian States have all 
along been the severest sufferers from the Barbary 
corsairs, because, while they have had a great num- 
ber of small vessels employed in their coasting- trade, 
they possessed no navy of sufficient strength to re- 
press the depredations to which they were exposed. 

In 1620, a squadron of English men-of-war was 
sent against Algiers, under the command of Sir 
Robert Mansel ; but of this expedition we have no 
other account than that it returned without effecting 
any thing important. It has been already stated 
that, during the vigorous government of the Com- 
monwealth, the gallant Blake inflicted a severe cas- 
tigation on the Tunisians, and at the same time 
taught the marauding subjects of the dey to dread 



336 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



the power of England. During more than a cen- 
tury, no events occur which might illustrate the 
tone of feeling that subsisted between the Barbary 
States and our government. The losses sustained 
by the Algerines during the repeated attacks by Du- 
quesne, in 1682 and the following year, had so far 
brought them to reason, that they consented to enter 
into a treaty advantageous and honourable to the go- 
vernment of James the Second. But, notwithstand- 
ing their desire for peace with a nation now be- 
come so formidable at sea, they lost no opportunity 
of making prizes of all such British ships as they 
could conveniently reach. Upon some outrage of 
this kind, Captain Beach, in 1695, drove ashore and 
burnt seven of their frigates, — an act of vigour which 
produced a renewal of negotiation, and extorted a 
promise of various concessions. It was not, how- 
ever, till the British had taken Gibraltar and Port 
Mahon, that they could exercise such a check upon 
the pirates as to enforce the observation of treaties; 
and since that period they have generally shown a 
greater deference to our wishes than to those of any 
other European power. The French, who, by min- 
gled force and flattery, had acquired an ascendency 
at the Algerine court, connived at the ravages com- 
mitted on the commerce of the less warlike nations ; 
aware that the carrying- trade must necessarily be 
secured for the merchants of those kingdoms whose 
ships were in no danger of being detained or pillaged 
by the maritime robbers. This paltry consideration, 
there is no doubt, induced some of the more power- 
ful monarchies of Europe, not only to tolerate the 
African corsairs, but even to supply them with arms 
and ammunition, to solicit their passes, and to pur- 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



337 



chase their forbearance by annual presents,, which 
were in effect nothing different from disguised tri- 
bute. All the condescension, however, of those who 
disgraced themselves with the title of allies to these 
miscreants, was not sufficient to restrain their pri- 
vateers from acts of cruelty and rapine. 

In the year 1748, four cruisers from Algiers cap- 
j tured an English packet-boat, on her voyage from 
Lisbon, and conveyed her into port, where she was 
I plundered of money and effects to the amount of at 
| least £100,000. Incensed at this outrage, the British 
ministry despatched Commodore Keppel with seven 
I ships of war to demand satisfaction, as well as to 
compromise certain differences which had arisen 
between his majesty and the dey, relative to some 
arrears of payment claimed by the latter. His high- 
1 ness frankly owned that the money seized in the 
prize had been divided among the captors, and could 
not possibly be refunded. Keppel returned to Gib- 
raltar ; and, in the sequel, an Algerine ambassador 
arrived at London with a present of some wild beasts 
for George the Second. This transaction was soon 
succeeded by one still more disgraceful. Mr Latton, 
a commissioner sent to redeem English captives, was 
grossly insulted by the Governor of Tetuan, because 
he would not consent to pay a sum for which he was 
not accountable. His house was surrounded by sol- 
diers, who draggedhis secretary from his presence, and 
threw him into a dungeon ; the Christian slaves were 
condemned to the same fate ; the ambassador him- 
self was degraded from his character, deprived of his 
allowance, and sequestered from all communication. 
And yet, after these numerous indignities offered to 
the honour of the British nation, the balance de- 



338 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



manded by the Turk was duly paid, and the affair 
quietly adjusted.* 

As the naval power of Britain increased, the ra- 
vages of the Barbary corsairs became less frequent 
and atrocious. They no longer domineered over the 
high seas, nor attempted to annoy the vessels be- 
longing to the greater nations ; nor did the latter 
deign to purchase immunity by the continuance of a 
disgraceful tribute. The Algerines more prudently 
selected for their prey the small kingdoms of the Si- 
cilies and Sardinia ; making descents upon their 
coasts ; carrying off all kinds of property, and even 
such of the inhabitants of both sexes as might seem 
most suitable for the slave-market. At the Con- 
gress of Vienna, accordingly, it became a subject of 
deliberation what means should be adopted to put a 
final stop to these enormities, and to secure protec- 
tion to the Italian shores, which had suffered so 
much from the barbarian invaders. The return of 
Bonaparte from Elba prevented the arrangement of 
measures for accomplishing this desirable object ; but 
no sooner was the peace of Europe again restored, 
than the British government, in conjunction with 
the Dutch, resolved to give efficacy to the wishes of 
their allies. Lord Exmouth and Sir Thomas Mait- 
land, invested with the command of separate squa- 
drons, were sent to Tunis to demand the restitution 
of all the captives actually in bondage, and the re- 
linquishment for ever of those piratical practices, 
which were so justly condemned by the European 
sovereigns. In this mission the gallant commanders 
succeeded, and were gratified not only by the libera- 
tion of the unfortunate persons who had already fallen 

* History of England, vol. xi. p. 274. Edition 1812. 



II 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 339 

into the hands of the rovers, but also with the as- 
surance that nothing more than the sanction of the 
! Porte was required in order to abolish Christian 
j slavery in all future times. 

These concessions enraged the Algerines, who in- 
j stantly began to strengthen their fortifications, as if 
they had determined to resist the combined force of 
all the maritime states, and pursue their violent 
system on a larger scale. The soldiery, in their 
blind rage, had recourse to an outrage of the most 
execrable nature. A number of vessels, belonging 
to Naples and the neighbouring ports, had been in 
the practice of assembling at Bona to carry on the 
pearl-fishery, in which, upon payment of an annual 
tribute, they were protected by the dey. Suddenly 
these peaceful and industrious seamen were sur- 
rounded by a band of Moors, who commenced an 
indiscriminate massacre, which could not be justified 
on any ground or pretence, and seems to have had 
no object but to show their implacable hatred to the 
Christian name/' 

This cruel insult called forth the fleets of England 
and Holland, and led to the memorable attack by 
Lord Exmouth in August 1816. Sailing with five 
ships of the line and eight smaller vessels, he was 
joined at Gibraltar by Admiral Capellen with six 
Dutch frigates. An attempt was made to withdraw 
the British consul and his family from the danger 
and embarrassment in which they could not fail to 
be placed during an assault on the town ; but the 
efforts of Captain Dashwood, who was intrusted 
with this important service, could accomplish no- 
thing besides the removal of two ladies, the wife and 

* Encyclopaedia Brit, article Algiers, p. 510. 



340 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



daughter of our resident, in the disguise of naval 
officers. 

It was not till the 26th of the month that his lord- 
ship appeared before Algiers, when he sent to the 
dey a flag of truce, conveying to his highness the 
conditions on which alone the meditated attack might 
be averted. He insisted on the final abolition of Chris- 
tian slavery ; the immediate freedom of all slaves 
within the territory of Algiers ; the repayment of 
every ransom paid for the redemption of captives by 
the Kings of Sicily and Sardinia ; the liberation of 
the consul and all other British subjects now in con- 
finement; and, lastly, peace with the King of the Ne- 
therlands. Two hours were allowed, to return an an- 
swer ; and in the mean time, as a favourable breeze 
sprang up, Lord Exmouth moved forward his ships 
till he found himself within a mile of the batteries, 
where he remained prepared for action. 

The period allowed for deliberation having elapsed, 
the admiral's ship passed through all the enemy's 
batteries without firing a gun, and, to the astonish- 
ment of the natives, took up a position within less 
than 100 yards of the mole ; upon which, says 
M. Salame, the interpreter, we gave them three 
cheers : ' c The batteries as well as the walls being 
crowded with troops, they jumped upon the top of 
the parapets to look at us ; for our broadside was 
higher than their batteries ; and they were quite 
surprised to see a three-decker with the rest of the 
fleet so close to them. From what I observed of the 
captain of the port's manner, and of their confusion 
inside of the mole, I am quite sure that even they 
themselves did not know what they were about, nor 
what we meant to do ; because, according to their 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 341 

judgment,, they thought that we should be terrified 
by their fortifications, and not advance so rapidly 
and closely to the attack. In proof of this, I must 
observe that, at this point, their guns were not even 
loaded ; and they began to load them after the Queen 
Charlotte and almost all the fleet had passed their 
batteries. At a few minutes before three, the Alge- 
rines, from the Eastern Battery, fired the first shot 
at the Impregnable, which with the Superb and the 
Albion was astern of the other ships, to prevent 
them from coming in. Then Lord Exmouth, hav- 
ing seen only the smoke of the gun, before the sound 
reached him, said with great alacrity, 6 That will 
do ; fire, my fine fellows V and I am sure, that be- 
fore his lordship had finished these words, our broad- 
side was given with great cheering, and, at the same 
time, the other ships did the same. The first fire 
was so terrible, that, they say, more than 500 per- 
sons were killed or wounded by it ; and I believe 
this, because there was a great crowd of people in 
every part, many of whom, after the first discharge, 
I saw running away, like dogs, walking upon their 
hands and feet/' The conflict continued with un- 
abated fury on both sides not less than five hours ; 
at the end of which time, the Algerines beginning 
to lose strength or courage, the vivacity of their fire 
appeared evidently to diminish. At eleven o'clock, 
his lordship having observed the destruction of their 
whole navy and the strongest part of their works, 
made a signal to the fleet to move out of the line of 
the batteries ; " and thus, with a favourable breeze, 
we cut our cables, as did the whole squadron, and 
made sail at about half-past eleven. At this time 
their navy, with the storehouses within the mole, 



342 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS 



were burning very rapidly. The blaze illumined 
all the bay, with the town and the environs ; the 
view of which was really most awful and beautiful; 
nine frigates and a great number of gunboats, with 
other vessels, being all in flames, and carried by the 
wind in different directions/** 

Next morning, the British admiral renewed the 
offer of peace, when the terms originally proposed 
were readily accepted. By virtue of this treaty, 121 1 
slaves were released, in addition to about 1800 li- 
berated during the former expedition to the coast of 
Barbary. The dey, whose obstinacy occasioned this 
great loss of life and property, did not long survive 
the negotiation, in which he was compelled to sur- 
render nearly all that the Algerines had been accus- 
tomed to value. He was taken from his throne, pre- 
cipitated from one of the windows of the palace into 
the court-yard, where, according to custom, he was 
immediately despatched. 

The castigation inflicted by Lord Exmouth, severe 
as it was, did not long restrain the freebooters with- 
in the bounds of moderation. Xo effort was spared 
to place the city in a more formidable state of de- 
fence than ever; and they soon considered them- 
selves again in a condition to set even the great 
powers at defiance. The trade of the French was 
first interrupted, and when their consul ventured 
to remonstrate on the subject, he was answered by 
reproaches and the most galling insults. Charles X. 
then declared war, and sent a number of ships 
against Algiers; but the fortifications on the sea- 
side were found so strong that his admiral was 
obliged to confine himself to an ineffectual blockade. 

* Salame, Expedition to Algiers, p. 37, &c. 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



343 



At length it was resolved to adopt more energetic mea- 
sures ; and a large fleet under Duperre, with a land- 
force amounting to upwards of 30,000 men, under 
General Bourmont, sailed from Marseilles in May 
1830. On the 14th June, the troops began to de- 
bark in the bay of Torre Chica, and were only par- 
tially interrupted by a few light- horse who approach- 
ed the beach, and by the fire of some batteries erect- 
ed in the neighbourhood. It should seem that the 
Turks, confident in their numbers or the strength of 
their position, allowed the invaders to land, and even 
to carry ashore their artillery, provisions, and stores. 
Five days elapsed before they took the field against 
Bourmont, having perhaps spent the interval in as- 
sembling the various contingents from Oran, Con- 
stantina, and Titteri. On the 19th, they commenced 
an attack on the French, with a force estimated at 
50,000, chiefly horsemen, who charged with such 
impetuosity, that they penetrated the enemy's line 
at several points ; nor was it until after a very ob- 
stinate conflict that they began their retreat, which, 
as usual, ended in a complete rout. 

But, though repulsed, they had no intention to 
abandon their country to the Christians without a 
farther struggle. They accordingly renewed their 
assault upon the French camp, day after day, until 
some severe checks, and a conviction of their infe- 
riority as soldiers, compelled them to fall back to- 
wards the Desert. Bourmont now advanced to the 
city, which, after a smart bombardment, yielded at 
discretion. Twelve ships of war, 1500 brass cannon, 
with a large sum of money, came into the hands of 
the conquerors; and on the 5th July, their flag waved 
on all the forts. The Turkish troops were permit- 



344 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



ted to go wherever they pleased, provided they 
should leave Algiers ; most of whom desired to be 
landed in Asia Minor. The dey, in the first instancej 
chose Naples for the place of his retirement ; and, 
it is well known, he enjoyed repose, and even some 
degree of consideration, till the day of his death. 

The success of this bold measure has, in the mean 
time, relieved the Mediterranean from the dread of 
piracy, and the European shores from the horrors 
which always accompanied the inroads of the mer- 
ciless Moors. But it must be doubtful whether the 
conquest, in any other respect, will gratify the nation 
whose arms achieved it. The climate is, indeed, 
good, the soil rich, and the situation at once romantic 
and delightful ; but the inhabitants of the adjacent 
country are destitute of honour, regardless of treaties, 
strangers to the refined enjoyments of social life, ad- 
dicted to plunder, and accustomed to consider war 
as their profession. M. Rozet acknowledges, that in 
their hostilities with the Bedouins, the regular troops 
of France, so far from gaining any ultimate advan- 
tage, must be content with a temporary triumph ; 
for, as soon as the Arab horsemen attain the border 
of the Sahara, they can set at defiance the best hus- 
sars of Europe. Hence we cannot be surprised to 
learn, that the conquerors of Algiers are confined to 
the walls of most of the towns which they occupy ; 
that they cannot venture to take possession of the 
lands ; and that the hope of a prosperous coloniza- 
tion of Northern Africa becomes daily less encou- 
raging. The great expense, moreover, incident to the 
military establishment still necessary for the pri- 
mary object of the expedition, presses upon the go- 
vernment of Louis Philippe, who, it would appear, has 



THE REGENCY OP ALGIERS. 



345 



already listened to several proposals for withdrawing 
his troops. 

The actual state of Algiers is well illustrated by 
the officer just named, who made part of the expe- 
dition, and afterwards resided sixteen months in the 
regency. His account of the town, both as to its 
external appearance and its interior arrangements, 
agrees in substance with those already given; con- 
firming, in every particular, the striking contrast 
between the view obtained of it from the sea, and 
the entire want of architectural ornament and even 
of convenience within. The brilliant aspect which 
it exhibits at a distance, with its white- w T ashed roofs, 
reminded him of an open chalk-quarry on the side of 
a hill ; but when he entered the gates, he found that 
the breadth of its main street does not exceed nine 
feet, one-half of which is occupied by the projection of 
the houses. This alley opens into another called Bab 
el Ouad, which penetrates the whole length of the 
city from south to north, and is in some places so 
narrow that a loaded mule fills it from side to side. 
It is, however, remarkable for one of those fountains 
or public wells which are seen in every lane of Al- 
giers, and prove the source of much comfort as well 
as health to the inhabitants. The following cut af- 
fords a good representation of the one which adorns 
the street we are now describing.* 

From the same account, we find that the strength 
of the Mole-battery has not been over-rated by for- 
mer writers. When the French entered the bay, they 

* " Dans chaque rue on trouve plusieurs fontaines alimentees par 
des aqueducs : ses fontaines sont formees par un enfoncement dans 
le mur, que termine un cintre ou une ogive compos ee de la reunion 
de deux arcs de cercle, et toujours ornees de desseins arabesque par- 
faitement sculptes." — Rozet, vol. iii. p. 17. 



346 THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 




Gate and Fountain of Bab el Ouad. 



observed on that fortification alone not fewer than 237 
pieces of cannon, forming five tiers, one above another, 
the first of which carried guns varying from thirty* 
six to ninety-six pounders. They were placed in 
vaulted casements, bomb proof, the walls of which, 
constructed of hewn stone, were about ten feet thick. 

Speaking of Algiers as it was before the reduc- 
tion of it by General Bourmont, we may remark 
that the government was entirely despotic, and that 
the dey had the power of life and death over all his 
subjects. There was no law but his own will, and 
this was always executed with an astonishing degree 
of promptitude. In the year 1830, when the soldiers 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



347 



of Charles X. drove from his throne this deputy of 
the grand seignior, they discovered that the whole 
authority of the state was in his hands ; that he re- 
warded and punished at his discretion ; disposed of 
all employments ; and made peace or proclaimed war 
without being obliged to give an account of his con- 
duct to any one. He had nothing to fear but the 
sanguinary revolts of his janizaries, who, when they 
chose to become dissatisfied with their sovereign, 
flew to arms, surrounded his palace, put him to 
death, and nominated his successor from their own 
ranks. 

We have already suggested that the regency was 
divided into four provinces, three of which were im- 
mediately governed by beys, namely, Constantina, 
Titteri, and Oran. Each of these local rulers had a 
guard, consisting of a few hundreds of Turkish sol- 
diers, who had their head-quarters in his capital, 
and accompanied him in all his expeditions. 

As the administration had long assumed a mili- 
tary character, every man, on certain emergencies, 
was bound to be a soldier; but the Ottoman militia, 
or janizaries, formed the regular army, to whom 
was added a corps of koulouglis, — the offspring of 
Turks and Christian slaves, — into which were some 
times admitted a contingent of Moors. This militia 
has by some authors been rated as high as 15,000, 
by others at 8000 ; but Rozet remarks, that when 
the French took Algiers, they found not more than 
from 2000 to 3000 capable of bearing arms. The 
cavalry, the strength of which varied according to 
circumstances, was composed of Berbers and Arabs, 
to whom there were granted certain advantages, in 
order to secure a continuance of their services. It 



348 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



is allowed by the staff-officer, on whose authority 
we now proceed, that the Turks were brave and 
generous in battle ; and that, after victory, they never 
put their hands to plunder, but left the spoil of the 
field to be gathered by the Moors and their slaves.* 

The navy of the dey, although the terror of Eu- 
rope, was at no time very considerable. The French 
found only one large frigate on the stocks, two in 
the harbour, two corvettes, eight or ten brigs, and 
about thirty-two armed sloops. For some years the 
whole marine had belonged to his highness, the pri- 
vilege of arming on their own account having been 
withdrawn from private individuals, except in the 
case of very small vessels, which were permitted to 
carry on a coasting- trade and use weapons for their 
own defence. 

The revenue of Algiers, if restricted to the usual 
resources of the country, did not exceed £130,000. 
When General Bourmont took possession of the dey's 
palace, certain records were discovered, which en- 
abled M. Gerardin, appointed " director of the do- 
mains/' and M. Fougeron, inspector of finances, to 
ascertain the precise sum which each province or 
government contributed to the expenses of the state. 
Oran and Constantinapaid 1,401,213 francs annual- 
ly, and it is supposed that the receipts from the other 
districts might increase the sum to three millions, — 
a small return from a country 500 or 600 miles in 
length, and 150 in breadth. To these regular funds, 
however, must be added the occasional payments 
made by foreign crowns, the value of the numerous 
prizes taken by the corsairs, and the presents offered 
by a variety of functionaries which had long ceased 
* Voyage dans la Regence d' Alger, vol. iii. p. 367. 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



349 



to be voluntary. Still it cannot fail to appear sur- 
prising, that the treasury of the dey should have 
contained, when it fell into the hands of the captors, 
not less than fifty millions of francs in gold and 
silver. Considering the immense fortifications which 
he erected, not only at the capital, but along a coast 
of more than thirty miles in extent, we naturally 
come to the conclusion formed by M. Rozet, that 
piracy must have furnished to him larger sums than 
he drew from all the lands under his acknowledged 
sway.* 

The wars which have been occasionally waged 
between Algiers and Tunis, do not reflect much 
honour either upon the courage or fidelity of the 
native troops. In the spring of the year 1807, the 
armies of these neighbouring states, to decide some 
national quarrel, took the field, amounting on either 
side to about 30,000 men. The Tunisians, who ad- 
vanced towards the west with the view of reduc- 
ing Constantina, were, upon the first appearance of 
their enemies, seized with a sudden panic, and fled 
with such precipitation that the Algerines, without 
trouble or danger, took entire possession of their 
camp, baggage, and 15,000 camels laden with pro- 
visions. Many of the fugitives reached their capital 
without once stopping or daring to look back ; and 
numerous horsemen rode their animals with such 
speed, that they fell down dead under them. 

In a few months the bey was ready to renew the 
campaign, eager to recover the reputation he had 
lost, and to accomplish the important object which 
had called him to arms. But his followers had not 
in the interval acquired any higher military quali- 



* Rozet, vol. iii. p. 387. 



350 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



ties, nor greater confidence in their own prowess. 
A watering- party, who happened to come in sight 
of a detachment from the opposite camp, fell back 
in such confusion, that they carried terror into the 
main body, who, in their turn, prepared for flight. 
The cavalry were already off, and the infantry were 
about to imitate their example, while the command- 
ing-officer, enveloped in a cloud of sand, knew not 
whether the masses of troops which moved around 
him in all directions were friends or foes. A Greek 
slave who had charge of the artillery, perceived in 
the confusion that the Algerines were advancing to 
complete their destruction ; upon which, without any 
orders, he applied a match to one of the pieces pointed 
against the suspected squadrons, and killed the horse 
of a chief. The assailants, terrified at this accident, 
turned their backs and galloped towards their tents, 
— a movement which the Tunisian cavalry no sooner 
observed, than they recovered from their fears and 
began a vigorous pursuit. 

The following morning both armies assumed their 
weapons, and formed themselves in line of battle on 
the opposite banks of a small river ; and now, a kind 
of irregular fight commenced, which continued till 
sunset without any serious injury being sustained on 
either side. When the shades of evening began to 
thicken, the Algerines fired a cannon without ball, — 
a signal perfectly understood among these heroes, 
that they were willing to suspend the strife till next 
day. Both paused, in the most accommodating man- 
ner, and made instant arrangements for food and 
repose ; but the sentries who watched the camp of 
the dey, observing on the neighbouring hills a de- 
tachment of cavalry, gave the alarm to their compa- 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



351 



nions, and in an instant terror and confusion spread 
through their lines. The warriors of Algiers, who 
had gained so many laurels in the month of March, 
consented to lose them all in July. They fled with 
precipitation during the night, leaving to the un- 
conscious victors the whole of their stores, provisions, 
and camels, together with twenty field-pieces and 
four mortars. Contented with their acquisitions, so 
easily attained, the soldiers of the bey deemed it in- 
expedient to hazard their riches and renown by ad- 
vancing upon Constantina, although the gates of 
that town were already thrown open to them. They 
more prudently resolved to return to Tunis, where, 
amid the acclamations of the citizens, they might 
enjoy the fruits of their valour, and cultivate all 
the warlike virtues. It will not excite wonder, that 
in these engagements very few men were killed, 
wounded, or taken prisoners ; for the combatants 
were drawn out to menace each other rather than to 
fight ; while the distance at which they used their 
arms rendered their encounter comparatively harm- 
less.* 

It would afford neither entertainment nor instruc- 
tion, were we to narrate the unimportant events 
which have occasionally arisen from the mutual 
jealousy of these states, and from the repeated at- 
tempts made by successive deys to acquire an as- 
cendency over Tunis. We shall therefore proceed 
to describe the chief cities in the several provinces of 
Algiers, beginning with the government of Con- 
stantina. 

Entering this territory from the east, our atten- 
tion is first drawn to Bona, the Hippo Regius of the 

* Account of Tunis, p. 45. See also PanantTs Narrative, p. 335, &c. 
5 



352 THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



Romans, and the episcopal see of the celebrated 
Augustine. The modern town is about a mile nearer 
the shore than the ancient one, and stands on ground 
which appears to have been once covered by the 
waves. The ruins of the latter are spread over a 
neck of land which lies between two rivers, about a 
mile and a half in circuit, and presenting the usual 
features of broken walls and cisterns. It had the epi- 
thet of Regius attached to it, not only to distinguish 
it from Hippo Zaritus, but from its being one of the 
royal residences of the Numidian kings. Dr Shaw 
relates, that a large quantity of corn, wool, hides, 
and wax, is every year shipped off from this place, 
which, by proper care and encouragement, might 
be made the most flourishing city in Barbary ; while 
by removing the rubbish, repairing the old buildings, 
and introducing a supply of water, it would certainly 
be rendered one of the most convenient and delightful. 

We have passed by Tabarca, the ancient Thabra- 
ca, because it presents nothing of which the descrip- 
tion could interest the reader. Between this posi- 
tion and Bona, there is the settlement of La Cala, 
where, as already noticed, the French had a large 
coral- fishery and a regular fort. The town, which 
bears the same name, is walled round, and has three 
gates ; the main street, which is well paved, divides 
the peninsula longitudinally, and is about sixty 
feet wide. The buildings on each side consist of 
a church, a governor's house, private dwellings, gra- 
naries, guardhouse, and barracks. When France pos- 
sessed it, the garrison usually amounted to 500 men. 
In 1806, the British government contracted with 
the Dey of Algiers for the occupation of La Cala, 
Bona, and Cool, stipulating to pay the annual sum 



THE REGENCY OP ALGIERS. 



353 



of 50,000 dollars ; it being supposed that the coral- 
fishery alone would reimburse a great proportion of 
the yearly expenditure. The violation of this treaty 
by his highness, and the massacre of the fishermen, 
led, as we have already noticed, to the bombard- 
ment of his capital under the direction of Lord Ex- 
mouth. At the present moment, this part of the 
coast is subject to the military authorities who re- 
present Louis Philippe in Northern Africa. 

Constantina, the ancient Cirta, is the principal city 
in the eastern province, and still attests by its ruins 
its former greatness. It is said to stand thirty leagues 
south from Bona, occupying a high hill, or what 
Shaw rather enigmatically calls a peninsular promon- 
tory. The visiter enters from the north over a stu- 
pendous Roman bridge, having three rows of lofty 
arches ; and when inside the town, he is every where 
struck with relics of ancient splendour. Granite pil- 
lars, broken friezes, pedestals, and a variety of Greek, 
Latin, and Runic inscriptions, are frequently ob- 
served. Besides the general traces of ruins scattered 
all over this place, there are still remaining near the 
centre of the city those capacious cisterns which re- 
ceived the water brought from Physgeah by an aque- 
duct, — a great part of which continues entire, and 
ec is very sumptuous." There is a gate of a beautiful 
reddish stone, not inferior to marble well polished ; 
the side-pillars being neatly moulded in pannels. An 
altar of purely white marble makes part of a neigh- 
bouring wall ; the only side of it in view presenting 
a well-shaped chalice in bold relief. The gate to- 
wards the south-east is in the same fashion and de- 
sign, though much smaller, and lies open to a bridge 
that was built over this part of the valley. This, 

Y 



354 THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



indeed,, was a masterpiece in its kind ; the gallery, 
and the columns of the arches, being adorned with 
cornices and festoons, ox-heads and garlands. The 
keystones, likewise, of the arches are covered with 
sculptured ornaments. Below the gallery, between 
the two principal arches, there is the figure of a lady 
treading on two elephants, well executed in high 
relief. Among the ruins, to the south-west of the 
bridge, there remains the greater part of a triumphal 
arch, called Cassir Gowlah, the Castle of the Giant, 
consisting of three arches. All the mouldings and 
friezes are curiously embellished with the figures of 
flowers, battleaxes, and other devices. The Corin- 
thian pilasters, on each side of the grand arch, are 
panneled like the gates of the city, in a style pecu- 
liar to Cirta. The population of this interesting 
place is said to amount to not less than 30,000 Moors, 
Jews, and Turks. 

About twenty miles to the north-west of Con- 
stantina stands jUiieu, the Milevum of the an- 
cients, in the centre of a most beautiful group of 
hills and valleys. It is surrounded with gardens, 
and plentifully stocked with fountains; one of 
which, bubbling up in the middle of the town, is 
received into a large square basin of Roman work- 
manship, From this fertile district the capital is 
chiefly supplied with herbs and fruits, which are ac- 
counted excellent: the pomegranates, in particular, 
are of so large a size, and have so delicate a flavour, 
that they are in great request all over the kingdom. 

The whole of this province still retains the most 

satisfactory tokens that it was long occupied by the 

Romans. Remarkable ruins may still be seen at 

Tezzoute, the Lambesa of classical authors, which 
6 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 355 

cover an area nearly three leagues in circumference. 
Besides the magnificent fragments of the city-gates, 
the number of which, according to the tradition of 
the Arabs, was not less than forty, there are the seats 
and upper part of an amphitheatre ; the front of a 
beautiful Ionic temple dedicated to Esculapius ; a 
large oblong chamber with a great door on each side 
of it, intended, perhaps, for a triumphal arch ; and 
the Cupola of the Bride, as the natives denominate 
a very handsome, though small mausoleum, built in 
the fashion of a dome, supported by Corinthian pil- 
lars. " These/' says Dr Shaw, " and several other 
edifices of the like elegant structure, sufficiently de- 
monstrate the importance and magnificence of this 
city."* 

Proceeding westward we come to Bujeya, or Boo- 
jeiah, called by Strabo the port of Saida, and which 
stands upon a neck of land running out into the sea. 
It is built upon the ruins of a large city, and dis- 
plays the remains of extensive walls, basins, and 
aqueducts, most of which, however, have suffered 
from the ravages of war. At present, besides the 
castle on the summit of a hill which commands the 
whole town, there are two forts at the bottom of 
it, erected for the security of the harbour; where 
several breaches may still be observed in the bas- 
tions, made by the balls fired against them by Sir 
Edward Spragge, who attacked it in the year 1671. 

Having mentioned the principal places in the go- 
vernment of Constantina, we shall advert very 
briefly to those of Titteri. In the days of Dr 
Shaw, this province was considered as being com- 
prehended in the territory of Algiers, having for its 

* Travels in Barbary, vol. i. p. 126. 



356 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



capital the metropolis of the kingdom ; and, even in 
our times, its small extent seems not to entitle it to 
the honour of a separate jurisdiction. Bleeda and 
Medea, the only cities of this district, are each of 
them about a mile in circuit : but their walls, which 
are chiefly composed of mud, and perforated every 
where with hornets, cannot be said to contribute 
either to their strength or beauty. The houses are 
in general flat roofed, though some of them are tiled, 
but have hardly any other accommodation to re- 
commend them as permanent residences besides an 
abundant supply of water. A branch of an adjacent 
rivulet may be conducted through every dwelling 
and garden at Bleeda ; while at Medea, the conduits 
and aqueducts that supply it, some of which appear 
to be of Roman workmanship, are capable of being 
so extended as to prove equally commodious. 

That part of the Atlas which lies between these 
towns, and extends as far as Mount Jurjura, is in- 
habited by numerous hordes of Kabyles, few of 
whom, confiding in their strong country, have ever 
been tributary to the Algerines. The mountain just 
named is the highest in Barbary, and about twenty- 
four miles in length : having its summit, through- 
out the winter, covered deeply with snow, and pre- 
senting, from the one end to the other, an uninter- 
rupted range of barren peaks and precipices. About 
fifteen miles southward from Medea, is the " Rock 
of Titteri." a remarkable ridge, four leagues in ex- 
tent, and, if possible, even more rugged than Jur- 
jura. Upon the top there is a large piece of level 
ground, with only one narrow road leading up to it, 
where, for their greater security, the tribe of Wel- 
led Eisa have their granaries. Beyond them are 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



357 



the encampments of the sons of Innane, the prin- 
cipal Arabs of the district of Titteri, properly so 
called, which lies only in the neighbourhood of this 
mountain. 

Five leagues to the eastward of the rock now speci- 
fied is the Burgh Hamza or Castle of Hamza, built 
from the ruins of the ancient Auzea, now called by 
the Arabs Sour Guslan, the Walls of the Antelopes. 
A great part of the old city, fortified at proper dis- 
tances with small square turrets, is still remaining ; 
the whole of which, it is conjectured, could not ex- 
ceed six furlongs in circumference. Of this place, 
once important as a military station, Tacitus has 
given a very good description ; for it was erected 
upon a small plat of level ground, every where sur- 
rounded with bare hills and gloomy forests, inspir- 
ing the mind of the traveller with the profoundest 
melancholy.* 

Advancing towards the Sahara, we become ac- 
quainted with the names of various clans who feed 
their flocks on its borders, and of several hills which 
define their boundaries, or prove a landmark to 
their scattered dependencies. The most distant, 
and in some respects the most savage, are the Beni 
Mezzab, whose chief employment is the slaughter of 
animals for the markets of Algiers. It has been ob- 
served of these sons of Mezzab, that they are in 
general of a more swarthy complexion than the 
Getulians, who dwell farther to the north ; and, as 
they are separated from them by a wide inhospitable 
desert, they may probably be found to be a branch 

* Nec multo post adfertur Nuraidas apud castellum semirutum, 
ab ipsis quondam incensum, cui nomen Auzea, positis mapalibus 
consedisse fisos quia vastis circum saltibus claudebatur. — Tacit. 
Annal. lib. iv. 



358 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



of the Melano-Getuli, or Black Getulians, so little 
known in the modern systems of geography.* 

The province which divides Algiers from Morocco 
bears the name of Tlenisan, the Moorish corruption 
of the ancient term Trernezen, and comprehends 
several towns that, from their historical importance 
rather than their actual condition, are not unde- 
serving of a short description. The capital, known 
by the same appellation as the surrounding district, 
stands upon a rising-ground below a range of preci- 
pices stretching from the Atlas Mountains. In the 
western part of the city there is a large basin, the 
work of the natives, which receives the numerous 
rills which trickle down from the elevated land to- 
wards the south, affording an ample supply of water 
for the beautiful gardens and plantations in the 
neighbourhood. Most of the w r alls of Tlemsan have 
been built, or rather moulded, in frames, — a method 
which was used by the Africans and Spaniards so 
early as the days of Pliny. The mortar of which 
they consist is made up of sand, lime, and gravel, 
and has, by being well tempered, acquired all the 
strength and durability of stone. The dimensions of 
these frames can still be determined ; some of which 
must have been 100 yards in length and two yards 
in height and thickness. About the year 1670, 
Hassan, the dey of Algiers, laid most of this town 
in ruins, as a punishment for the disaffection of the 
inhabitants; so that there is not now remaining 
above one-sixth of the old metropolis, which, w r hen 
entire, appears to have been at least four miles in 
circuit. In the dilapidated parts of the more an- 
cient city are to be seen shafts of pillars and other 

* Shaw, vol. i. p. 99. 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



359 



relics of Roman magnificence ; and Dr Shaw ob- 
served in the walls of a mosque, constructed of the 
original materials, a number of altars dedicated to 
heathen gods.* 

Still farther south are discovered, in a variety 
of situations, the vestiges of Roman towns, which, 
however, convey no information beyond the simple 
fact, that a civilized people, powerful in arms, were 
once masters of the country. The ruins of Arbaal, 
Memon, El Herba, Maliana, and Aquse Calidse 
Colonia, forcibly recall the descriptions of classical 
authors. In the vicinity of the station last named, 
are several tombs and coffins of stone, containing, if 
the narratives of the inhabitants might be believed, 
skeletons and armour of a much larger size than 
could belong to men of modern times. The usages 
of the Goths and Vandals, who not unfrequently 
buried the horse and the rider in one grave, may ac- 
count for the huge bones and long swords still found 
in that section of Africa, and at the same time il- 
lustrate the fine verses of the poet, — 

" Agricola incurvo terram molitus aratro, 
Exesa inveniet scabra rubigine pila : 
Aut gravibus rastris galeas pulsabit inanes, 
Grandiaque effossis mirabitur ossa sepulchris." 

Virg. Georg. lib. i. v. 494. 
u Then, after length of time, the lab'ring swains 
Who turn the turfs of those unhappy plains, 
Shall rusty piles from the plough'd furrows take, 
And over empty helmets pass the rake — 
Amazed at antique titles on the stones, 
And mighty relics of gigantic bones."— Drydek. 

The country around, possessed by various tribes, 
presents a succession of exceedingly rugged hills and 
deep valleys, very difficult and even dangerous to 
pass over. Yet, says the best of our travellers, this 

* Travels in Barbary, vol, i. p. 69. 



360 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



danger and fatigue are amply compensated by visit- 
ing the delightful plains of the Hadjoute and Me- 
tijah, which lie beyond them ; those of the latter 
being nearly fifty miles long and twenty broad, and 
watered in every part by numerous springs and 
rivulets.* 

Ascending to the coast, and turning towards Al- 
giers, we arrive at the celebrated town of Oran, the 
possession of which was so long contested between 
the Spaniards and the Moors. It is described as 
being built upon the declivity, and near the foot of 
a mountain, which overlooks it from the north and 
west. On the high ground are two castles, which 
command the city on the one side, and the Marsa- 
Kebir on the other ; while, on a lower level, are 
two forts, separated from the houses by a deep wind- 
ing valley, which serves as a natural trench on the 
south. Hence it is manifest that this seaport is 
capable of an easy defence, and might be held by a 
small European garrison in spite of the utmost exer- 
tions of the natives. 

This description, given on the authority of Shaw, 
is confirmed by the details of M. Rozet, who spent 
some time at Oran after the conquest of Algiers. 
The town, according to him, occupies two elongated 
platforms, separated from each other by a steep val- 
ley, in which there runs a stream sufficiently strong 
to turn several mills, and to supply the inhabitants 
with abundance of water. The annexed view, taken 
by him on the spot, will assist the imagination of 
the reader in forming an idea of this remarkable 
station. 



* Shaw, vol. i. p. 81. 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 363 

When the French army advanced to take posses- 
sion of Oran, all the occupants of the town, with 
the exception of 300 or 400, saved themselves by 
flight, carrying with them their property, wives, 
and children. The Jews alone remained, and have 
proved faithful to their new masters ; showing, on 
various occasions, not less attachment to their cause 
than military talent in defending it. Rozet con- 
jectures that the population, before this dispersion, 
must have amounted to between 5000 and 6000, 
consisting of Moors, Arabs, Negroes, Turks, Jews, 
and Koulouglis, whose habits, he found, differed 
little from those of the same classes in Algiers. Be- 
fore this intelligent officer left the place, many of 
the Mohammedans had returned to resume their 
occupations, while the peasantry, finding protection 
and encouragement, were again venturing to mar- 
ket with their corn, butter, poultry, and eggs. 
The inhabitants appeared, in his eyes, to deserve the 
reputation of courage ; and having been allowed to 
retain their arms, they never laid them aside, how- 
ever they might happen to be employed. The deal- 
ers in the shops had muskets by their sides ; and 
the waiters in coffee-houses had a dagger or a pair 
of pistols suspended to their girdles. But, he adds, 
they never used them against the French.* 

The Spaniards, first time they were in possession 
of this place, built several beautiful churches and 
large edifices in the style of the Romans ; carrying 
their imitation so far as to carve upon the friezes 
and other convenient parts a variety of inscriptions 
in their own language. But neither at Oran nor 



* Voyage dans la Regence d' Alger, tome iii. p. 274. Eh bien ! 
ils ne s'en sont jamais servis contre Jes Francais. 



364 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



Geeza, a small village about two miles distant from 
it, are there any antiquities, properly so called ; the 
adjoining country having often changed masters, 
suffered much from war, and been long in the hands 
of Europeans, who have remodelled all its structures. 

Leaving the village of Carastel and the port of 
Anze, the traveller in Barbary comes to Mostagan, 
a town separated from the plain by a circle of 
hills, and commanding a fine view of the sea. It is 
larger than Oran, and esteemed next to Tlemsan in 
point of wealth and consequence. Between Masa- 
gran and this city there are numerous gardens, or- 
chards, and country-seats, ranged in beautiful variety 
all along the shore ; the acclivities behind not only 
sheltering them from the hot scorching winds which 
sometimes blow in those directions, but also abound- 
ing in fountains of w r ater, which refresh and che- 
rish vegetation. The appearance of the walls and 
other portions of ancient architecture, remove all 
doubt that it must have been a Roman station of 
great importance, probably the Cartenna of Pliny 
and of the geographer Ptolemy.* 

The next place of note on the coast is the Jol, or 
Julia Csesarea of the Italian historians. The ruins 
upon which it stood before the earthquake of 1738, 
were not inferior in extent to those of Carthage; 
and the judgment which might be thereby formed 
of its original magnificence was confirmed by the 
sight of the fine pillars, capitals, capacious cisterns, 
and beautiful mosaic-pavements, that were every 
where remaining. The river, now named Hashem, 
w r as conducted thither through a grand aqueduct, 
nearly equal in magnificence and workmanship to 

* Travels in Barbary, vol. i. p. 60, &c. 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 365 

that of Carthage ; several portions of which, scat- 
tered among the neighbouring valleys towards the 
south -east, display in the height and strength of the 
arches the most incontestable proofs of the grandeur 
of its design. 

As this town was destroyed a few years after it 
was visited by Dr Shaw, we sought with more 
eagerness in the pages of M. Kozet for information 
respecting its present state. We can learn no more, 
than that it stands upon a little plain between the 
shore and the foot of the mountains ; that the build- 
ings are after the Moorish fashion, and exhibit the 
turrets of three or four mosques ; that the sides of 
the hills appear well cultivated, having rich fields, 
pasture-lands, and gardens intermixed ; and that the 
creek which serves for a port is defended by two bat- 
teries without guns. The aqueduct he saw only 
through a telescope, at the distance of four miles, 
but he was satisfied that it must have had a Ro- 
man origin.* 

About thirteen miles nearer Algiers are the ruins 
of Tefessad, the Tepasa of the old geographers, which 
extend more than half a league along the coast. 
Both at this place and Shershell are several arches 
and walls of brick, not commonly seen in other parts 
of Barbary ; and on a large pannelled stone found 
here is the following inscription, which carries its 
date beyond the Mohammedan conquest : — 

C. Crttico C. F. 
Quirit. Felici. 
Ex Testamento Ejus. 

From this point to the capital, the breadth of the 
coast, generally speaking, is seven or eight miles, 



* Voyage, &c. tome iii. p. 258. 



366 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



and is either mountainous or woody ; thereby secur- 
ing the fine plains which lie behind it from the north- 
erly winds and the spray of the sea, both of which 
prove extremely unfavourable to the more delicate 
fruits of the earth. Crossing the Massafran, we find 
ourselves again within the territory of Algiers, the 
vicinity of which, though pleasant and interesting, 
does not admit of such a description as would prove 
suitable to our pages. The recent works of French 
authors abound with details,, than which nothing 
could be more useful to those who intend to live in 
the country, or to estimate the chances of a profitable 
commerce ; but, as they are necessarily minute, they 
would require an extent of space quite inconsistent 
with our object, and might be found rather embar- 
rassing to the imagination than calculated to en- 
lighten the understanding. We may remark, how- 
ever, that M. Rozet, in visiting the garden of Mus- 
tapha Pasha, in the neighbourhood of the city, ob- 
served a superb aqueduct carried across a parched 
valley, and constructed for the purpose of conveying 
water to the inhabitants of the town. The archi- 
tecture is decidedly Moorish, presenting two tiers of 
arches and other peculiarities which correspond to 
the taste of the country ; but the annexed cut de- 
lineates the structure so distinctly as to preclude the 
necessity of farther description. 

In a periodical published at Paris, entitled " An- 
nuaire de FEtat d' Alger/' and which corresponds to 
our almanacs, there is an interesting account of the 
country under the French government, including a 
view of all the institutions, — civil, ecclesiastical, com- 
mercial, and military, — by means of which its affairs 
are transacted. The author, by dividing the south- 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



369 



ern district into Titteri and the Zaab, increases the 
number of provinces to five ; admitting that his 
countrymen occupy only three points on the coast, — 
Algiers, Oran, and Bona, — the first of which com- 
mands a territory of about nine miles in extent, 
while the two latter are confined to their respective 
walls. The Moors and Arabs, we are assured, are 
sufficiently disposed to submit to the government of 
France, because they feel the want of being pro- 
tected against the inhabitants of the mountains. 
He therefore recommends that garrisons should be 
placed in all the seaports ; encouragement given to 
such companies as would undertake the working of 
mines ; that a regular intercourse should be kept up 
with Europe by the intervention of steam-boats ; 
and, above all, that the laws should be administered 
with vigour and impartiality. An attempt at colo- 
nization has been made in the neighbourhood of Al- 
giers, and two villages have been established at Kou- 
ba and Dely-Ibrahim, under the immediate auspices 
of the ruling authority. The inhabitants, who have 
'« been hitherto supported by the state, have received 
a species of civic organization, and present at least 
a model of the improved condition to which the 
whole region may yet attain. 

The climate is much more constant than that of 
France ; not being exposed to those sudden changes 
of temperature which render the latter so variable. 
When the warm season sets in, the heat continues 
to increase without interruption ; and, at the end of 
summer, it diminishes in the same gradual manner. 
This favourable state of the atmosphere^ which is 
enjoyed in the plains eight months of the year, and 
the moderate warmth of the mountain-districts, 

z 



370 THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 

render Northern Africa fit for the culture of a 
greater number of vegetables than can be raised in 
France or any other European country. In fact, 
in the less-heated parts, they can rear the same 
plants as are cultivated on the opposite shores of the 
Mediterranean, while there is reason to believe that 
all the productions of more southern, and even of 
tropical climates, might, in'the low grounds near Al- 
giers, be naturalized to the greatest advantage. For 
the various methods of improvement suggested in 
the little work from which we quote, and more par- 
ticularly the scheme for draining the marshes in the 
great plain of the Metijah, we must refer the reader 
to an examination of its pages,, which he will find 
full of intelligence and statistical knowledge/' 

M. Rozet concludes his work with a statement 
addressed to all civilized nations, reminding them, 
that in the year 1830 a French army took Algiers, 
destroyed the piracy which, during three centuries, 
had desolated the world, and laid the first founda- 
tions of civilisation in Northern Africa ; that in or- 
der to continue this great work, France requires the 
aid and concurrence of the other European powers ; 
but that hitherto she has made the appeal in vain, 
their ears being closed to her voice as well as to that 
of humanity.t 

The sentiments of this writer, in regard to the 
point now stated, have not been generally approved 
by his countrymen, who see in the plan he has pro- 
posed the seeds of misunderstanding among the oc- 
cupants of the soil, if drawn from different king- 
doms, and the source of a long-continued misery to 
the unhappy natives. No doubt, the civilisation of 

* Annuaire, p. 40-48. -f Voyage, tome iii. p. 432. 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



371 



Northern Africa, undertaken at the common ex- 
pense of enlightened Europe, is a grand and gene- 
rous idea ; but, if attempted, it would soon be found 
impracticable ; for, whatever may be the mask which 
philanthropy assumes, self-interest is always at the 
bottom of such undertakings ; and this feeling, which 
so universally influences individuals, is seldom ab- 
sent in the calculations even of the most liberal ca- 
binets. The task would no sooner be completed, 
than the apparent benevolence from which it took 
its rise would resolve itself into the desire of aggran- 
dizement ; and the Barbary States, redeemed from 
ignorance and despotism by the arms of Christen- 
dom, would become the prey of ambition, jealousy, 
and intrigue.* 

Perhaps there might be established with perfect 
safety at present, and without the hazard of ulti- 
mate contention, two great centres of civilisation, 
the rays of which would in due time extend over 
the contiguous provinces ; one in the Algerine terri- 
tory, as now occupied by the French, and the other 
in the Cyrenaica, at Derna or Ptolemeta. The 

* Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, Dec. 1833. In an able article 
by Laurenaudiere, in the form of a review of M. Rozet's work, there 
are some good observations on the expediency and advantages of co- 
lonizing Northern Africa. He says, — II ne s'agit point de civiliser 
la Barbarie, mais de former un ttablissement agricole, industriel et 
commercial dans l'ancienne regence d Alger. — Soyons assures qu'a- 
vec la perseverance, Arabes et Berberes finiront par se fatiguer 
d'attaques inutiles, et qu'un jour Famour du gain les appellera vers 
nous ; s'ils preferent a la paix une guerre prolongee, leur perte est 
certaine. — Corame position militaire, Inoccupation d A lger, de Bonne, 
de Bougie, et surtout d Oran est d'une haute importance pour la 
France. Oran, par ses forts magnifiques, travaux des Espagnols, 
que nous n'avons rien de mieux a faire que de reparer, par sa belle 
rade de Mers el Kebir, ou cent vaisseaux peuvent etre en surete, est 
le seul point maritime important que nous puissions avoir depuis le 
cap Matifou, jusqu'au detroit de Gibraltar. En cas de guerre ma- 
ritime, il n'est pas besoin d'insister sur les avantages d'une sem- 
blable position. 



372 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



Great Syrtis would supply the line of demarcation, 
and mark out the respective scenes in which the po- 
licy and arts of an instructed people should again 
form the basis of knowledge, freedom, and social 
happiness. The soil and climate in this portion of 
the globe afford the means of maintaining a vast 
population, which, for many ages, could not exhaust 
the sources of affluence and comfort. A growing 
trade with the regions of the East and the South, 
would by deirr - compensate the sacrifices which 
might be necessary in the commencement of a colo- 
nization so comprehensive, and exposed, at the same 
time, to the numerous difficulties inseparable from 
the depravity and ignorance of the actual possessors. 
To America, as well as to other nations which con- 
template the advantages of commerce and of a large 
maritime force, a commanding position on the shores 
of the Mediterranean might seem not too dearly 
purchased at the expense of that protection which 
all infant settlements require. Every traveller in 
the eastern section of Northern Africa, struck with 
the beauty of the scenery, the productive qualities 
of the land, the agreeable atmosphere, and the nu- 
merous local conveniences for intercourse with the 
wealthiest kingdoms of the European continent, has 
recommended the project of establishing colonies 
within the bounds of the ancient Pentapolis. 

The experience of France, it is true, has not 
hitherto proved very encouraging to others who 
might meditate a similar adventure. But coloniza- 
tion, it must be remembered, was in her case only a 
secondary motive, and dictated by the necessity of 
completing the objects for which the great expedi- 
tion was formed, — the protection of her flag, and the 
permanent suppression of piracy. The occupation 



THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 



373 



of Algiers resulted as a consequence obviously arising 
from the triumph of her arms ; and the settlements 
which she now attempts to form are meant, not only 
to secure the possessions already gained, but also to 
render them less burdensome to the national revenue. 

From the facts now mentioned, it will not appear 
surprising that the proceedings of the French go- 
vernment in Africa have not been marked by any 
regard to system, and have consequently given of- 
fence both to the natives and to the European set- 
tlers. Law has not yet acquired any dominion in 
their new conquests; every thing being regulated 
by proclamations issued from the head-quarters of 
the general, and which, it is complained, do not 
always recognise the same principles, nor contribute 
towards the attainment of the same ends. We have 
alluded to rumours, occasionally revived, that Louis 
Philippe has determined to relieve his exchequer of 
the burden entailed by this colony ; but, as some of 
the most formidable obstacles to complete success have 
been already removed, it may be presumed that the 
enterprising spirit of his subjects will encourage and 
enable him to persevere in an undertaking so essen- 
tial to the security of all Christian states.* 

* The following notice, forwarded to London by the proper au- 
thority at Paris, may perhaps be regarded as an indication that 
there is no serious intention of abandoning their conquest : — 

" Notice is hereby given, that, since the 18th November 1834, 
a Revolving Light has been substituted for the old Fixed Light 
on the Mole of Algiers, continuing throughout the night, and the 
light disappearing regularly every half- minute." 

On the subject of the French expedition, we may refer to the fol- 
lowing books recently published : — " Appel en faveur d'Alger, et 
de l'Afrique du Nord." " A per ;u Historique et Statistique sur la 
Ptegence d Alger, &c. par Sidi Hamadan Ben Othman Khoja," and 
the various numbers of the Annales des Voyages. There is much 
information, too, in the works of Shaler, Poiret, Hoest, Norberg, 
Bruns, Langier de Tassy, Renaudot, and Desfontaines. 



374 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Empire of Morocco. 

Boundaries of Morocco — Extent — Divisions — Fertility — Produc- 
tions — Not fully cultivated — Metallic Treasures, Iron, Copper. 
Gold, and Silver - Population - History —Aglabites — Edrisites — 
Fatimites — Zuhites- Hamadians — Abn-Hassians — Abdallah- 
ben-Jasin — Almoravides — Almohades — Merinites — Oatazi — 
Shereef Hassan — Various Races of Men — Administration of Jus- 
tice — Rude Government- Oppression — Court -dress — Arrogance 
of the Moors — Their patient Endurance — Equality of Rank — 
Mode of eating— Ceremony of Marriage — Religion — Treatment 
of Christians and Jews — Revenue — Melilla — Velez — Tetuan — 
Ceuta — Tangier — Arzillah — El Haratch — Meheduma — Sallee — 
Rabat — Schella — Maza^an — Mogadore — A gadeer — Morocco 
— Population — Palace — Fez — Edifices — Decayed State — Tero- 
dant — Mequinez — Royal Residence — Manners of Inhabitants. 

The geographical position of Morocco is bounded on 
the north and west by the Mediterranean and the 
Atlantic respectively ; on the south by the Sahara, 
or Great Desert ; and on the east by the river 
Moulouia, which separates it from the Algerine pro- 
vince of Tleinsan, and coincides with the ancient 
division of Numidia and Mauritania Proper. From 
the ocean to the stream now specified, the distance 
is not less than 200 miles ; while the length of the 
empire, from Cape Spartel to Cape Nun, is about 
550, comprehending nearly eight degrees of latitude. 
It has been observed, however, that the Arabs beyond 
the southern bank of the Suz, though they nominally 
acknowledge the sovereignty of Morocco, yet, avail- 
ing themselves of their great distance from the seat 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



375 



of government, and other local advantages, pay very 
little attention to the imperial mandates.* 

The whole country comprises four grand divisions, 
answering to the four kingdoms into which the ter- 
ritory was originally distributed ; namely, Fez, or 
Fas, Morocco, Suz, and Tafilet, according to the 
following table : — 

Fez. 

Provinces. Towns. 

1. El Rif, Woojada, Melilla. 

2. ElGharb, or Algarve, Tetuan, Tangier, Arzillah. 

3. Beni Hassan, Sallee, Rabat. 

4. Temsena, Dar el Beeda. 

5. Shawiya. 

6. Fez,..T Fez, Mequinez. 

7. Tedla. 

Morocco. 

1. Duquella, .Mazagan, Azimore. 

2. Abda, Saffi. 

3. Shedraa, Mogadore. 

4. Haha, or Hea. 

5. Morocco, Morocco. 

Suz. 

1. Suz, orSuza, Agadeer, Terodant, Irnoon. 

2. Draha. 

Tafilet. 

1. Tafilet, Tafilet. 

2. Draha. 

3. Segilmissa, Segilmissa. 

The distinguishing geographical features of the 
country are connected with the grand chain of 
the Atlas, by which it is traversed in its whole 
extent, and which, in the southern parts, attains a 
great elevation. Its summits, covered with perpe- 
tual snow, are seen at the distance of nearly 200 
miles, and are therefore estimated to be not less 

* Malte Brun, vol. iv. p. 187. Conder's Geographical Diction- 
ary, article Morocco. In the latter work, as well as in the Modern 
Traveller, there is a misprint,— Lat. 28°_30° N. for Lat.28°-36° N. 



376 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



than 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. The 
loftiest peaks are observed to the south-east of Mo- 
rocco, and are known by the corrupt appellation 
of Jebel Tedla, — a term supposed to have some re- 
ference to the more common name by which they 
are celebrated in the classical works of the Greeks 
and Romans. 

All travellers agree in praising the fertility of the 
kingdoms of Fez and Morocco, the one of which is 
situated to the north and the other to the west of 
the Atlas. Within such latitudes, the climate, as 
might be expected, is comparatively mild ; while the 
country, generally speaking, is free from those 
marshy tracts which,, in the hotter regions of the 
earth, are found to produce the most fatal diseases. 
In the northern provinces the temperature is nearly 
the same as that which prevails in the Spanish pe- 
ninsula, having the autumnal and vernal rains pecu- 
liar to the southern parts of Europe ; but towards the 
Desert, the depositions from the atmosphere are less 
copious and frequent, and the heat of course is more 
oppressive. Indeed, beyond the river Suz, little or 
no rain falls throughout the whole year, and it is 
principally on this account that the caravans ex- 
perience so much difficulty in traversing the sandy 
waste. 

We are informed by Dr Lempriere, that the soil, 
though varying in its nature and quality, is, when 
properly cultivated, capable of producing all the 
luxuries of the eastern and western worlds. The 
plains of the interior uniformly consist of a rich 
black loam, which renders them fertile beyond all 
calculation. The mountainous parts, too, by the 
application of a little skill and capital, might be 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



377 



covered with most of those plants which delight in 
the elevated tracts of sultry regions ; including cof- 
fee, cocoa, and pimento, with all the tropical fruits 
and delicacies on which Europeans set so high a 
value. Experience has proved that sugar, cotton, 
rice, and indigo, may be raised to much advantage 
and at a trifling expense of labour. From the slight 
culture which the land at present receives, which is 
merely that of burning the stubble before the autum- 
nal rains, and the ploughing it about six inches deep, 
it produces at a very early season, and in most luxu- 
riant abundance, excellent wheat and barley, In- 
dian corn, beans, peas, hemp, and a great variety of 
esculent vegetables. Among the fruits may be men- 
tioned oranges of a very superior quality, lemons, 
citrons, pomegranates, melons, olives, figs, grapes, 
almonds, dates, peaches, apricots, apples, pears, cher- 
ries, plums, and, in short, all the fruits to be found 
in the southern provinces of Spain and Portugal. 
The natives preserve their grain in " matamores," — 
holes made in the earth, lined and covered with 
straw, to prevent the rain from soaking through ; 
and in these receptacles corn may be kept five or 
six years without undergoing any material change. 

Could a proper spirit for agriculture and fo- 
reign commerce be introduced into the country, or, 
in other words, could the sovereign be persuaded 
that, by suffering his subjects to be enriched, he 
would improve his own treasury, the empire of Mo- 
rocco, from its convenient situation with respect to 
Europe, and from the natural luxuriance of its soil, 
might acquire a very high political importance. But 
every where there are immense tracts lying waste 
and uncultivated, which, with little attention, might 



378 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



be converted into a source of almost inexhaustible 
wealth to the inhabitants. From this representa- 
tion, it would scarcely be supposed credible that 
Spain, which is also a fine country and a civilized 
nation, should, from time to time, be obliged to remit 
to the barbarian emperor large sums of money, to 
induce him to allow his subjects to export corn, as 
well as most other provisions and fruits, from Tan- 
gier and Tetuan. Indeed, the southern provinces of 
Spain can hardly subsist without this supply.* 

We are told that the Jews in most of the towns 
make wine ; but, owing either to the grapes not be- 
ing in such perfection as those of Europe, or to an 
improper mode of preparing it, the flavour is very 
indifferent. They also distil a species of brandy 
from figs and raisins, well known in that country 
by the name of aquadent. This liquor has a dis- 
agreeable taste, but in point of strength is little in- 
ferior to spirits of wine. It is drunk very freely by 
the Hebrews, without being diluted, on their feasts 
or days of rejoicing ; and there are few of the Moors 
who are disposed to forego any private opportunity 
of taking their share of so exhilarating a beverage. 
These last likewise cultivate tobacco, of which there 
is, near Mequinez, a description which can be con- 
verted into a snuff not inferior to Maccaba. 

In the mountains of Atlas there are numerous 
iron-mines ; but, as the Moors do not understand the 
mode of working the ore, they have hitherto proved 
of trifling value. The neighbourhood of Terodant 
is said to abound in copper ; and the natives assert 

* Tour from Gibraltar to Tangier, &c. By Wm. Lempriere, 
LL.D. p. 90. The exportation of corn has of late years been to- 
tally prohibited. 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



379 



that, in the loftier parts of the range, there are also 
veins of gold and silver, which the emperor will not 
permit them to touch. This opinion is received by Dr 
Lempriere with hesitation, being satisfied that, if it 
had any foundation in truth, the Berbers, who in- 
habit the high grounds, and who pay very little re- 
spect to the government of Morocco, would long ago 
have availed themselves of such a treasure. Later 
writers, however, have removed all doubt as to the 
fact, that among the minerals of the Atlantic group 
are to be found distinct traces of the precious metals. 

Of the population under the nominal jurisdiction of 
this Mohammedan sovereignty, the extent has been so 
imperfectly ascertained, that the estimate varies from 
fourteen millions to four and a half. Mr Jackson, 
who long officiated at Mogadore as British consul, 
gives the numbers as follows : — 

Cities and towns of the empire, ........ 938,000 

Morocco and Fez, west of Atlas, 10,300,000 

Nomadic tribes, north of Atlas, 3,000,000 

Tafilet, east of Atlas, 050,000 

14,886,000 

There cannot be any doubt that this statement is 
greatly overrated, although the author is under- 
stood to have had access to the imperial registers, in 
which were inscribed all the names of the persons 
who paid taxes. Such records, in a country where 
to number the people is held a religious misdemean- 
our, must be regarded as a very equivocal ground of 
information ; because there are many motives which 
might induce the government to augment the appa- 
rent sources of its revenue, which yet would have 
no connexion with an accurate census. Mr Jackson 
was informed, for example, that the city of Morocco 



380 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



contained 270,000 inhabitants, and Fez, 380,000 ; 
while more recent travellers, worthy of the utmost 
confidence, assign to the former capital only 30,000 
dwellers, and to the latter not more than 70,000.* 
With respect to the history of this kingdom, view- 
ed as a member of the Barbary States, it is well 
known that it represents one of the monarchies 
founded by the Arabs during the period of their do- 
mination in Northern Africa. The dynasty of the 
Aglabites, whose capital at one time was Kairwan, 
and that of the Edrisites, who resided at Fez, were 
subjugated by the Fatimites. These last, while 
they were occupied with the conquest of Egypt, al- 
lowed their western possessions to be seized by the 
Zuhites, who again were succeeded by the Hama- 
dians and the Abn-Hassians in the provinces of 
Tunis and Constantina. But, in the remoter part 
of their territory, a chief of the Lamethouni, a tribe 
belonging to the Great Desert, at present unknown, 
chose for the reformer of his people, as well as their 
legislator and high-priest, an extraordinary person, 
named Abdallah-ben- Jasin, whose manner of living 
and habits combined an apparent abstinence with 
the most unbounded licentiousness. This artful 
fanatic originated a sect, distinguished, in the first 
instance, by furious zeal, and at all times extremely 
ambitious and enterprising, called the Almoravides, 
or, more properly, the Morabeth. These enthusiasts 
issued from the Desert like a fiery hurricane, threat- 
ening by turns Africa and Europe ; their leader as- 
suming the title of Emir al Mumenim, or Prince of 
the Faithful. In 1052, one of their commanders built 



* Hoest and Chenier, quoted by Malte Brim, vol. iv. p. 192. 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



381 



the city of Morocco, then called Marakash, while 
another invaded and overran the finest part of Spain. 
This last is celebrated for having gained, in 1 180, 
the battle of Sala, near Badajos, in which Alphon- 
so, the Christian king, lost his life. The same peo- 
ple expelled from that country the dynasty of the 
Ommiades ; and it was during the confusion which 
preceded the fall of this family that some of the 
rival claimants called the Almoravides to their aid. 
These Africans, like the first invaders, advanced with 
the strength and enterprising spirit of a new race ; 
nor could the Christians have made head against 
them, if they had not found allies among the Moor- 
ish kings, who, at this time, established shortlived 
sovereignties; and who, when the Morabeth were 
driven out, became themselves an easy prey. 

At the same time, the rule of these enthusiasts, 
whose objects were not less political than religious, 
extended over Algiers, the Sahara, Timbuctoo, and 
Soudan ; but, in the year 1146, sectaries of a more 
austere character, designated the Almohades, usurp- 
ing the good fortune which had so long attended the 
disciples of the son of Jasin, invaded the empire of 
the West, and reduced it to submission. Like the 
others, they endeavoured to establish the faith of 
their prophet in the southern kingdoms of Europe, 
and fought several obstinate battles in the plains of 
Andalusia • but, failing in this attempt, they received 
some compensation in the success with which they 
carried their tenets and their arms along the northern 
coast of Africa, even as far as the gates of Tripoli. 
The power, too, founded on fanaticism was doomed to 
be undermined by the same active spirit from which 
it had sprung. Intestine discord, the usual elFect of 



382 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



religious excitement, laid the Almohades open, in 
their turn, to the assault of a more recent class of 
schismatics, among whom were the Merinites, who, 
about the middle of the thirteenth century, gained 
possession of the kingdoms of Fez and Morocco. 
This tribe, however, more desirous to confirm than 
to extend their dominion, made no attempt to re- 
establish the great empire of Mogreb, the mighty 
sovereignty of the West ; though this precaution did 
not entirely prevent the evil which was so justly ap- 
prehended. Hordes, of unknown name and origin, 
continued to issue from the Eastern Desert, ani- 
mated with warmer zeal and fortified with higher 
pretensions ; and, as such ardour is better suited for 
subduing kingdoms than for perpetuating a regular 
authority, the old settlers were uniformly seen to 
give place to the more modern fanatics. The power of 
the Beni Merini was accordingly overthrown by the 
Oatazi, an obscure race, who envied their greatness 
and aspired to supreme dominion ; and, as this re- 
volution coincided with certain efforts on the part 
of the Portuguese to extend the Christian faith to 
the shores of Africa, the stability of the Moorish 
kingdom was menaced at once from two opposite 
quarters. This emergency in their affairs induced 
them to invite a shereef, resident in Tafilet, named 
Hassan, who, as one of the posterity of the prophet, 
was entitled to the sovereignty of a Mussulman 
state. He succeeded completely in his enterprise ; 
and having subdued the barbarous zealots whose 
phrensy or ambition had shaken the empire of Mo- 
greb, he placed on the throne his own dynasty, which 
has exercised the regal office till the present day ; 
combining with the dignity of sultan the more sacred 

5 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



3&3 



distinction which attaches to their pedigree as the 
progeny of Mohammed.* 

Various races of men, we are told, now occupy 
the country under the rule of his present majesty ; 
• — the Berbers, primitive troglodytes of Mount Atlas, 
and the parent stock of the Guanches found in the 
Western Isles ; the nomadic Arabs of the great 
plain of Morocco ; the emigrants from Spain, who 
possess the cities, for which mode of life nature 
seems to have destined them ; the Jews, who fill the 
interior departments of commerce ; and the negroes, 
who appear to have gradually removed from the 
more glowing regions of the South. These several 
denominations of human beings, who are careful to 
trace their origin to different sources, are dispersed 
from the shores of the Mediterranean to Tafilet, the 
capital of which is eighteen days' journey from the 
city of Morocco, and to Suz, of which the boundaries 
are supposed to extend to the vicinity of the Niger. f 

The subjects of this empire, it is maintained, are 
still slaves to an absolute despot, and strangers to the 
benefit of fixed laws, their only rule being the will 
of the sultan. Wherever this prince chooses his 
residence, he distributes justice in person ; for which 
purpose he generally holds a court twice a-week, 
or oftener according to circumstances, in his hall 
of audience, graced with the full solemnity of a su- 
preme tribunal. Here all complaints are addressed 
to him ; every person has the freest access ; and he 
hears with patience each individual who has a cause 
to defend, whether natives or foreigners, man or 

* Malte Brun, vol. iv. p. 187. Keatinge, Travels in Europe 
and Africa, p. 199. 
f Keatinge, p. 201. 



384 



EMPIRE OF 3IOROCCO. 



woman, rich or poor. Distinctions of rank are not 
regarded: every one being entitled, without hin- 
derance or embarrassment, to approach the common 
sovereign. Sentence is promptly pronounced, al- 
ways with the authority of an absolute and final 
decision, but generally, it is admitted, in the spirit 
of the most impartial equity. 

With the exception, however, of these imperial au- 
diences, the administration of affairs is marked by dis- 
order, rapine, and violence. The governors of pro- 
vinces have the title of caliph or lieutenant, of pasha 
or kaid; and every where combine judicial with 
executive power to such an extent, that they remit to 
the judges no case which does not present some pe- 
culiar difficulty. In some of the towns, and espe- 
cially in Fez, there are cadis, or independent ma- 
gistrates, who are invested with great authority as 
interpreters of the law ; but it is remarked, that as 
the governors and judges are usually oppressed by 
the sultan, they, in their turn, harass and defraud 
the people. The lowest officer pillages in his mas- 
ter's name ; and as the wealth thus acquired falls 
ultimately into the imperial treasury, the crime is 
overlooked in consideration of the contingent ad- 
vantage. The sovereign can deprive any one of his 
subjects, however high his rank, of every thing be- 
longing to him, except what is strictly necessary to 
prevent starvation : and this exercise of despotic 
power is not unfrequently directed against those 
who have amassed riches in the discharge of their 
official duties. The confiscated sums are said to 
pass into the common coffers of the Mussulmans, 
and this is the only account of them that is either 
asked or given. The consequences of such a sys- 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



385 



tern may be easily conceived. The people, suspi- 
cious, cruel, and perfidious, respect no sort of obli- 
gation ; their universal aim is to plunder one an- 
other; no confidence, no social tie exists among 
them, and scarcely even any feeling of affection be- 
yond the narrowest limits of domestic life.* 

Mr Jackson informs us, that the people belonging 
to the court have a particular dress, never appearing 
before the emperor in a hayk, but in a silham, or 
large cloak of white woollen cloth ; and in presence 
of a pasha, or governor, the hayk is thrown over the 
shoulders, which at other times hangs loosely on 
the cap, — a mode of salutation similar to that of 
taking off the hat among Europeans. 

The pride and arrogance every where ascribed to 
the Moors, appear in the strongest colours within 
the dominions of Morocco ; for though they live in 
the most deplorable state of ignorance, slavery, and 
superstition, they esteem themselves the first people 
in the world, and contemptuously brand all others 
with the epithet of barbarian. It is not denied, 
however, that some of the better-educated among 
them are courteous and polite, and even possessed 
of great suavity of manners. They are affable and 
communicative where they repose confidence ; and 
if in conversation the subject of discussion be seri- 
ous, and the parties become warm in dispute, they 
have usually the prudence to withdraw, in a very 
delicate manner, the contested point, and to substi- 
tute another on which the current of opinion may 
flow more gently. They are slow to take offence ; 
but, when irritated, they are both noisy and impla- 
cable. There is a noble trait in their characters 

* Malte Bran, p. 192. 

2 A 



386 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



which ought not to be omitted, — their patience and 
resolution when visited by misfortune : they never 
despair : no bodily suffering, and no calamity, how- 
ever great, will make them complain ; they are re- 
signed in all things to the will of Heaven, and wait 
in tranquil hope for an improvement of their condition. 
It is a singular point of etiquette, among a people 
who abide with so much firmness the decrees of 
fate, that the word " death" is never mentioned in 
the hearing of the sultan. When it is necessary to 
announce to him the demise of any person, they 
say, <c he has fulfilled his destiny ;" on which the 
monarch gravely utters this pious expression, (e God 
be merciful to him/ 3 

It is not unworthy of remark, too, that the Moors 
are all equal by birth, and are not acquainted with 
any difference of rank but such as may be derived 
from official employments. Hence, the meanest 
man in the nation may aspire without presumption 
to a matrimonial connexion with the highest family 
not ennobled by descent from the prophet ; and so 
great in Morocco are the effects of accident or ca- 
price, that the peasant., in the course of a day, may 
change places with the governor of a province. 

This people, it has been observed, are, for the 
most part, more cleanly in their persons than in 
their clothes. They wash their hands before every 
meal, which, as they use no knives or forks, they 
eat with their fingers. Half a dozen persons sit 
round a large bowl of cuscusou, and after the usual 
ejaculation, ce In the name of God/' each puts his 
hand into the dish, and taking up the food, throws 
it by a dexterous jerk into his mouth, without suf- 
fering the fingers to touch the lips. However re- 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



387 



pugnant this may be to our ideas of cleanliness, yet, 
the hand being always washed and never touch- 
ing the mouth in the act of eating, these folks are 
by no means so dirty as Europeans have some- 
times hastily imagined. They have no chairs or 
tables in their houses, but sit cross-legged on carpets 
and cushions ; and at meals the bowl or dish con- 
taining the repast is placed on the floor.* 

When a Mussulman is inclined to marry, he 
makes inquiry of some confidential servant respect- 
ing the person of her mistress, and if he receive a 
satisfactory description of the lady, an opportunity 
is sometimes procured to see her at a window or 
some other place. This interview generally decides 
whether the parties are to continue their regarda; 
and if the young man be satisfied with the attrac- 
tions of the maiden, he takes occasion to communi- 
cate his wishes to her father, and makes his proposal 
for marriage. Of the wedding-ceremony various 
accounts have been given by different authors. Ac- 
cording to Mr Jackson, whose acquaintance with 
the habits of the people was minute and accurate, 
the bridegroom is mounted on a horse with his face 
covered, surrounded by his friends, who run their 
horses and discharge their muskets, as if they meant 
to attack him. The kettledrum, the triangle, and 
a rude kind of flute, form the band of music ; while 
the attendants of the young couple dance and jump 
about, twirling their firelocks in the air, and other- 
wise expressing their satisfaction. This boisterous 
mirth being finished, the parties go to the house of 
feasting, where the evening is spent in great con- 
viviality, not without a certain violation of that 

* Account of the Empire of Morocco, p. 147- 



388 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



statute in their religious code which prohibits the 
use of strong drink. It is not expected that the 
woman should have a fortune or a settlement ; but 
if the father be rich, he generally gives a dowry, 
and a quantity of pearls, rubies, and diamonds, — it 
being understood that this shall always remain her 
own property, and be returned with her, should she 
be separated from her husband. 

The tenets of Isiamism are well known to consti- 
tute the national religion of Morocco. Some years 
ago, a sect sprang up who professed a species of 
deism more pure than that maintained by the Mo- 
hammedan creed, inasmuch as in their symbol of 
faith they left out the name of the prophet. The de- 
claration of belief by which they wished to be distin- 
guished, comprehended nothing more complex than 
the following proposition : — " There is no God but 
the true God/' His imperial majesty, however, hos- 
tile even to the appearance of innovation, discoun- 
tenanced the authors of this refined Unitarianism ; 
and, as might be expected, under a government so 
little disposed to temporize, he had soon the satis- 
faction to learn that the schismatics were again fa- 
voured with more orthodox views. But, notwith- 
standing this vigilance on the part of the sovereign, 
everv religion is tolerated which maintains the unity 
of the Divine Being, whatever may be the modifi- 
cations with which this leading doctrine is ex- 
pounded. In Morocco itself, there are Roman Ca- 
tholic monasteries, as well as at Mogadore, Mequi- 
nez, and Tangier; though the monks are closely 
watched, and occasionally exposed to some vexations. 
The Jews, on the contrary, who are exceedingly nu- 
merous, and have dwellings even in the valleys of the 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



389 



Atlas, are treated with the most revolting inhuma- 
nity ; their situation, both civil and moral, present- 
ing a very singular phenomenon. On the one hand, 
their industry, their address, and their intelligence, 
make them masters of all the branches of trade, and 
even of manufactures ; they direct the royal coin- 
age ; they levy the duties on exports and imports ; 
and officiate as interpreters, agents, and commission- 
ers. On the other hand, they experience the most 
odious treatment and ill usage. They are prohibit- 
ed from writing in Arabic, and even from learning 
the characters; because no profanation could be 
esteemed greater than the sight of a Jew reading the 
Koran. Their women, too, are forbidden to wear 
any green article of clothing, and are not allowed to 
veil more than one-half of the face. In passing a 
mosque, the persecuted Israelite must uncover his 
feet, and remove his slippers to a respectful distance ; 
while a Moor may enter a synagogue without cere- 
mony, and even insult the Rabbins.* 

The revenue of the empire has been estimated at 
a million of piastres, derived partly from the customs 
and partly from the tithe of land. The army, which 
is equally ignorant of discipline and tactics, consists 
of about 36,000 men, of whom not less than two- 
thirds are negroes. The navy, which may amount 
to fifty vessels, was in former days almost entirely 
employed in piracy ; the situation of the larger ports 
giving the marauders every advantage against the 
commerce of Europe. 

Having exhibited a general view of the constitution 
and manners of the Western Moors, we shall now 
present a brief description of their principal cities. 

* Account of Morocco, p. 139. 



390 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



Proceeding westward from the boundaries of Algiers, 
we come to the town of Melilla, the Rissadirium of 
antiquity, which is in possession of the Spaniards, 
who still maintain a small garrison. In 1774, Sidi 
Mohammed, the emperor of Morocco, made an in- 
effectual attempt to reduce it. Having no trade, it is 
now remarkable for nothing but its fine honey. Ve- 
lez, or Belis, a village placed between two mountains, 
somewhat nearer the straits, is supposed to have 
been founded by the Carthaginians, and to have 
possessed at one period a considerable degree of im- 
portance. The vicinity abounds in excellent timber, 
which, under an enlightened government, might be 
applied to the purposes of shipbuilding, — a use to 
which it was not unfrequently devoted by the cor- 
sairs along the shore, before the Europeans obtained 
a permanent footing in their country. 

The mouth of the river Busega indicates to the 
traveller that he has arrived in the neighbourhood 
of Tetuan, a place still of some consequence, and at 
a former epoch very populous. It is pleasantly si- 
tuated upon a rising ground between two ranges of 
high mountains, one of them constituting a part of 
the Lesser Atlas. Being only five miles distant from 
the Mediterranean, it commands a splendid view of 
that sea ; and the valleys below are variegated with 
gardens, plantations of olives and vineyards, and or- 
namented with the fine stream just mentioned, 
which takes its course through its centre. The town 
is of considerable extent, and its walls are flanked 
with square towers, on which a few guns are mount- 
ed ; but the streets are narrow and filthy, and many 
of them, like those in Algiers, are nearly arched over 
by the houses. The Caisseria, or marketplace, is 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



391 



filled with shops, containing a great variety of valu- 
able articles, both of European and African work- 
manship. Fez supplies the inhabitants, not only 
with the manufactures of that city, but also with 
goods brought thither from the Algerine States, 
Tunis, Alexandria, and Timbuctoo, by means of 
the annual caravans. In Gibraltar and Spain are 
procured certain commodities sent from England, 
Germany, and the Peninsula, which are exchanged 
for the produce of the country, or for the rarer mer- 
chandise of the lands beyond the Sahara.* 

The port of Tetuan is situated about two miles 
from the sea, and is named Morteen. At this place, 
however, as we are informed by Dr Lempriere, there 
is only a single house used for the purpose of col- 
lecting the customs. As the mouth of the river is now 
nearly choked up with sand, it admits only of small 
craft ; and even these can proceed no farther than the 
station now described, where there are usually some 
of the imperial galleys anchored for the winter. The 
estuary is defended by a high square tower, on which 
are mounted twelve pieces of cannon. Till the year 
1770, Tetuan was the residence of the European 
consuls ; but an Englishman having by accident 
shot or wounded a native, the emperor swore by his 
beard, that no Christian charge d'affaires should 
dwell there any more.t 

Ceuta, which is at present in possession of Spain, 
was heretofore the capital of Hispania Transfretana, 
and occupied by the Moors. It was afterwards taken 
by the Arabs ; and again, in 1415, reduced by the 
Portuguese, who r in their turn, saw it pass into the 
hands of their neighbours. Being a commanding 

* Lempriere, p. 430. Jackson, p. 92. -j- Jackson, as above. 



392 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



position, it acquired great value in the eyes of the 
maritime states, as affording the means of checking 
the Barbary pirates ; and to the Spaniards in par- 
ticular its importance has not been diminished by 
the loss of Gibraltar. Various efforts have been 
made by the sovereigns of Morocco to recover it ; but 
as it is almost impregnable towards the land, a mi- 
litary force without the aid of a fleet must for ever 
prove unavailing. 

The whole coast, from hence to Tangier, being 
about a day's journey, is rugged and interspersed 
with projecting cliffs. This town, anciently called 
Tinjis and Tingia, was first possessed by the Ro- 
mans, next by the Goths, and was, by Count Julian, 
given up to the Mohammedans. In the fifteenth 
century, it was taken by the King of Portugal, who 
gave it as a marriage-portion with his daughter Ca- 
therine to Charles the Second of England ; but the 
subjects of the latter, finding the expense of keeping 
it to exceed greatly any advantage which might be 
derived from its possession, abandoned it in 1684, 
after destroying the mole and fortifications. It still 
retains some batteries in good condition facing the 
bay ; at the bottom of which there is a river and the 
remains of an old bridge, which, even if it had stood 
till now, would have been entirely superseded by the 
accumulation of sand in the wonted channel of the 
current. Viewed from the seaside, Tangier presents 
a regular aspect. Its amphi theatrical situation, its 
whitened houses, the walls surrounding the town, the 
castle built on a hill, the consuls' residences, and the 
grand sweep of the coast, compose an interesting 
picture ; but as soon as the streets are entered the 
illusion ceases, and the visiter finds himself sur- 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



393 



rounded with every thing that characterizes the 
most squalid wretchedness.* 

Doubling Cape Spartel, the waves of the Atlantic 
are seen washing the little town of Arzillah, called 
by the Carthaginians Zillia, and by the Romans, 
who had a garrison there, Julia Traducta. After 
passing through the hands of the Goths and Portu- 
guese, it came ultimately into the possession of the 
Moors, who are its masters at the present day. It has 
no trade, and appears entirely destitute of wealth and 
industry ; affording shelter only to a few miserable 
inhabitants, who acknowledge a government more 
ready to depress than befriend them. Leaving this 
decaying village, we advance towards El Haratch or 
Larache, situated at the mouth of the river Kos or 
Lucos. Here are more distinct remains of prospe- 
rity; while the defences and the commerce of the 
port indicate that the science of Europe must have 
aided in its fortifications. There are several mosques, 
too, and a handsome bazaar, surrounded with stone 
piazzas ; but it is not concealed that these structures 
rather indicate what the place must have formerly • 
been, than correspond to what it now is. The ac- 
cumulation of sand, too, at the mouth of the river, 
threatens it with the loss of the little trade which it 
still enjoys. Mr Jackson tells us, that in 1610 it 
was given up to Spain, and, in 1689, retaken by 
the Emperor Muley Ismael. He adds, that there is 
an excellent marketplace in the town ; that the 
castle which commands the entrance of the road is 
in good repair ; that the guns are well mounted ; 
and that it is farther strengthened by several bat- 
teries on the banks of the stream. The French en- 



* Travels of Ali Bey, vol. i. p. 12. 



394 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



tered it in 1765 ; but by a feint of the Moors they 
were induced to go too far up, when they were sur- 
rounded by superior numbers, and fell victims to 
their own impetuosity." 

At the distance of sixty-five miles towards the 
south stands Meheduma, the Mamora of Europeans, 
on the banks of the Seboo. It is situated on an 
eminence, close to the river, and described as a poor 
neglected place, the inhabitants and ferrymen of 
which gain a livelihood by catching a species of sal- 
mon, — a fish found in great quantities between au- 
tumn and the spring. But the contiguous country 
is much more remarkable than the town, consisting 
of an immense plain, said to extend eighty miles into 
the interior, as smooth as a bowling-green, covered 
with the richest verdure, and diversified by three 
large fresh-water lakes, which are adorned with trees 
and shrubs, and well stocked with water- fowl. The 
district was formerly possessed by a thick population, 
but the incalculable number of mosquitoes, gnats, 
and other annoying insects, have compelled the 
people to remove. There are a few insulated spots 
in the largest lake, which is not less than twenty 
miles in length, where are built sanctuaries for the 
marabouts, who here, as well as elsewhere, are 
greatly venerated by the natives. 

Sallee, celebrated as the resort of the most savage 
order of corsairs, is built on the northern bank of a 
river formed by the confluence of the Bubegreg and 
Wieroo. It is a walled town, and rather strongly 
fortified ; but the navigation of the estuary is be- 
coming every day more impeded by the usual ob- 
structions of sand and mud, and will, in a short 

* Jackson, p. 96. 



EMPIRE OP MOROCCO. 



395 



time, cease to answer the purposes of commerce. 
On the opposite side of the stream stands Rabat, 
which is rather larger than the other, and was once 
the seat of several European factories, to which 
were confided the commercial interests of their re- 
spective nations. On an adjoining eminence are 
seen the remains of an old castle, erected by the 
Sultan El Mansour in the twelfth century, some 
bomb-proof vaults remarkable for their strength, 
and the remains of a battery meant to defend the 
port. The same monarch is reputed to have built 
a famous mosque, the roof of which was supported 
by 360 columns of marble ; many fragments of 
which are found scattered in the neighbourhood. 
At a little distance is a large tower, about 180 feet 
in height, and consisting of seven stories, which is 
said to have been constructed about five hundred 
years ago. It is ascended by an inclined plane, 
instead of a stair, so that a person may reach the 
top on horseback ; while the path has been formed 
of a cement so hard as to defy, not only the dissolv- 
ing power of time, but even the more direct appli- 
cation of the hammer and pick-axe.* 

On the eastern side of Rabat is a walled town 
named Schella, supposed to be the metropolis of the 
Carthaginian colonies, anciently founded by Hanno 
on this border of the Atlantic. It is esteemed 
sacred ground by the Mussulmans, is held in much 
veneration, and protected with great care against 
the approach of a Christian. Passing Fedalla and 
Dar el Beeda, neither of which presents any thing 
worthy of observation, we come to Mazagan, a town 
built by the Portuguese, who, in 1769, were induced 

* Jackson's Morocco, p. 100. 



396 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



to evacuate it as no longer worthy of their care. 
As Oualida and Saffi have nothing which could 
interest the modern reader, we omit all allu- 
sion to their mouldering walls and decayed dwell- 
ings, in order to reach Mogadore, the usual resi- 
dence of a British consul. This port is built on 
the brink of the ocean, defended from the encroach- 
ment of the waves by a ledge of rocks, and sepa- 
rated from the cultivated country by a belt of sand. 
At spring tides it is nearly surrounded by the 
swelling waters, which, after attaining a certain 
height, meet with no obstruction on the fiat shore. 
There are two towns, or rather a citadel and an 
outer town ; the former containing the custom- 
house, the treasury, the residence of the kaid, and 
the houses of the foreign merchants and civil offi- 
cers. The Jews, not enjoying any of the distinc- 
tions now mentioned, are obliged to live in the 
latter, which is also walled in and protected by suf- 
ficient batteries. The Emperor Sidi Mohammed, 
to impress on the minds of the people his desire to 
make Mogadore the principal commercial port on the 
ocean, ordered the pasha and other depositaries of 
his power, to bring him mortar and stones, whilst 
he, with his own hands, began to build a fortifica- 
tion, which is still to be seen on the rocks west of 
the town ; and with the view of encouraging the 
traders to erect substantial dwellings, he not only 
gave them ground, but allowed them to ship pro- 
duce free of duty until their expenses were reim- 
bursed. This is the only station which maintains 
a regular intercourse with Europe, as it continues, 
in some degree, to profit by the immunities origi- 
nally conferred by his imperial highness. 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



397 



The last port in the Atlantic dominions of Mo- 
rocco is Agadeer, the Santa Cruz of some authors, 
and the Guerguessem of Leo African us. The town, 
which stands on an elevated position, has great 
natural strength, and its walls display a few mount- 
ed guns ; while the bay is esteemed the safest 
in the empire for large vessels, being sheltered on 
all sides from dangerous winds. It was fortified in 
1503 by Emanuel, king of Portugal, but taken 
by the Moors about thirty years afterwards ; and 
continuing in the possession of these last, it might 
have attained to considerable importance, had not 
the refractory conduct of one of its governors pro- 
voked the emperor in 1773 to dismantle it, and 
transfer its commercial privileges to Mogadore. 

Of Morocco itself we have already traced the 
origin to the eleventh century, when the foundations 
were laid by Yussuf Teshfin, the chief of a tribe 
who occupied the lands between Mount Atlas and 
Tafilet. The surrounding country is at once beau- 
tiful and romantic ; the alpine range, which ter- 
minates the view, contrasting in a very striking 
manner with the luxuriance of the fields and gar- 
dens in the neighbourhood of the capital. The 
lily-of-the-valley, lupins, fleurs-de-lis, roses, jon- 
quils, mignonette, jasmines, violets, the orange and 
citron flowers, and many others, grow there spon- 
taneously ; and in the months of March and April 
the air in the morning is strongly perfumed with 
their grateful and delicious odours. Among the 
fruits are oranges of the finest flavour, figs of vari- 
ous kinds, melons, apricots, peaches, grapes, dates, 
plums, and pomegranates.* 

* Jackson, p. 118. 



398 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



Ali Bey asserts that the city, which once con- 
tained about seven hundred thousand inhabitants, 
had not, when he was there in the beginning of 
the present century, more than thirty thousand. 
The walls which surround it have survived the 
ravages of time and of man, and give some proof 
of the former splendour of the place ; they embrace 
a circumference of about seven miles, the interior 
of which is covered with ruins or converted into 
gardens. The remainder constitutes the present 
town ; but, though the houses are in a line, and 
form streets, there are many spaces left unoccupied. 
There are several public squares or marketplaces, 
which, if they were paved and kept clean, would 
display some degree of magnificence ; but, in this 
neglected state, they are only remarkable for mud 
when it rains, and for dust during the dry weather. 
The mosques are large, and have even a certain 
measure of grandeur in their construction ; though, 
as the architecture is of different ages, their appear- 
ance carries not a little offence to the eye of taste. 

The palace of the sultan is situated out of town 
towards the south, and is composed of a vast group 
of buildings. Besides the apartments for his ma- 
jesty, his sons, and the numerous females who 
make part of the establishment, it contains several 
gardens. The different officers belonging to the 
court have also their separate lodgings ; to which 
are added two mosques, immense yards or squares, 
where the emperor holds his public audiences, giving 
to the whole the semblance of a royal city, and 
which, in point of fact, occupies a circumference of 
about three miles. 

This unfortunate capital no longer enjoys the 

6 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



399 



benefits of trade, commerce, or manufactures ; the 
arts and sciences are entirely forgotten ; and, in 
short, says Ali Bey, it would be impossible to be- 
lieve such an astonishing and rapid decline, if it 
were not proved by its large walls, its immense 
masses of ruins, the great number of conduits now 
become useless, and its vast churchyards. 4 ' 

Fez, another metropolis of this barbaric empire, 
displays the same symptoms of waste, misgovern - 
ment, and ignorance. It is situated on the slope of 
several hills, which surround it on every side, except 
the north and north-east ; affording, as it has been 
supposed, the usual indifferent lodging to about a 
hundred thousand human beings, only the one-half 
of what they were prior to a late visitation of the 
plague. Like Algiers, its streets are dark and 
gloomy, because they are not only so narrow that 
two horsemen can hardly ride together, but also 
because the houses, which are very high, have a 
projection on the first floor, which intercepts much 
of the light. This inconvenience is increased by 
certain galleries or passages connecting the upper 
part of the buildings, and by the high walls which, 
at various distances, are raised across the streets as 
if to support the houses on either side. These walls 
have arched passages, like the Bab el Ouad in the 
city just named, which are shut at night ; the town 
being thereby divided into several quarters, and all 
communication between them entirely precluded 
until sunrise.t 

It is well known that this city, the most celebrat- 
ed in Western Barbary, was founded in the year 
786, by Idris, a descendant of the great prophet, and 

* Travels of Ali Bey, vol. i. p. 157- "f Ali Bey, p. 6/. 



400 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



is divided into two parts, called the old and new, or 
Fez Jedide and Fez el Balee. It is not so extensive 
as Morocco, but, the buildings being more lofty and 
spacious, it contains a greater number of inhabitants. 
The houses have flat roofs, ingeniously worked in 
wood and covered with cement, on which the fami- 
lies spread carpets in summer, to enjoy the cool 
breezes of evening ; a small turret containing a room 
or two is also erected upon them for the use of the 
ladies, who resort thither for amusement and recrea- 
tion. There is a great number of mosques, sanc- 
tuaries, and other public edifices, about fifty of which 
are very splendid, being ornamented with a kind of 
marble unknown in Europe, procured in the Atlas 
Mountains. The hospitals which are mentioned by 
early writers must have fallen greatly into decay, as 
there are now very few remaining. In these the 
poor are fed, but no medical officer attends them ; 
women alone minister to the sick and infirm till they 
recover, or death terminates their sufferings. There 
are nearly 200 caravanseras, or inns, each contain- 
ing from fifty to a hundred apartments. But, ex- 
cept water and a mat, nothing is furnished for the 
accommodation of the guest, who must find food and 
bedclothes elsewhere.* 

Every trade or profession has a street or section 
of the town allotted to it. In one place are shops 
occupied by notaries or scribes ; another has its sta- 
tioners ; a third is restricted to wax-chandlers, and 
a fourth to shoemakers ; while fruit, bread, and meat, 
are sold in their respective localities. The markets 
for provisions are very numerous, and well supplied 
with victuals, dressed or undressed ; being in this 



* Jackson, p. 131. 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



401 



respect not inferior to the majority of the large cities 
in Europe. 

It is not concealed, by the most enthusiastic tra- 
vellers, that the ruins and mud by which the streets 
of Fez are encumbered render them extremely dis- 
agreeable. The houses, too, are so miserably decayed 
that many of them are actually propped up ; almost 
all are without windows ; and the few of these which 
meet the eye are not larger than a common sheet of 
paper. The doors likewise have a mean and shabby 
appearance. Behind these wretched walls, it is true, 
are occasionally concealed mansions, the inside of 
which presents something like comfort and elegance. 
The ceiling, the doors of the rooms, and the arcades 
of the court-yard, are painted in various colours, and 
even overlaid with gold and silver ; the floors being 
decorated with Dutch tiles, or with marble of different 
tints, arranged so as to form rather pleasing designs.* 

Terodant is known as the metropolis of the south, 
and was formerly that of the kingdom of Susa. It 
still possesses a noble palace, adorned with gardens 
containing the most delicious fruits ; but, generally 
speaking, it has lost its trade, population, and the 
consequence which once belonged to it as a provincial 
capital. Its reputation is now confined to the ma- 
nufacture of a superior kind of saltpetre, and the 
preparation of leather used for saddles. 

Mequinez, the second city of Morocco, stands in 
a beautiful valley about sixty miles from Sallee, and 
is surrounded by gentle eminences combining all the 
attractions of nature. It owes its extent and import- 
ance to the policy of Sultan Muley Ismael, who, 
when he had secured to himself the undisputed sove- 

* Ali Bey, p. 67. 

2b 



402 



EMPIRE OF 3IOROCCO. 



reignty of the small kingdoms which now consti- 
tute the empire, resolved to strengthen the northern 
division of it by erecting a walled town fit to receive a 
competent garrison. At the south end he built a 
palace, forming an immense quadrangle, and enclos- 
ing a number of gardens, well watered by streams 
from the adjacent country. In the centre of this 
enclosure is the harem, which, again, surrounds a 
small paradise planted with trees, and invested by a 
gallery supported on massy columns. This royal 
residence is rendered more spacious by being con- 
structed altogether on the ground-floor. The rooms 
are long and lofty, but narrow, being only twelve 
feet wide, while they are eighteen high and twenty- 
five in length. The walls are inlaid with glazed 
tiles of bright colours, which give an air of coolness 
to the apartments ; and the light is communicated 
by means of two large folding-doors, which are open- 
ed more or less according to the degree of clearness 
required in the interior. Between the different 
suites of rooms are courts regularly paved with square 
pieces of black and white marble, and in the centre 
of some of them are seen fountains composed of the 
same rich material. 

The inhabitants, whose manners are mild and 
courteous, compared at least to those in any other 
part of the empire, are also very hospitable ; taking 
pleasure in inviting strangers to their gardens and 
a share of their entertainments. The women, it is 
added, are handsome without exception ; and to a 
fair complexion, with expressive black eyes and dark 
hair, they unite a suavity of disposition rarely ex- 
perienced in the most polished cities of Europe.* 

* Jackson, p. 129. 



EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. 



403 



As the religion, government, military system, and 
administration of justice, present in Morocco features 
very similar to those which prevail throughout the 
other states of Northern Africa, we purposely abstain 
from details that would necessarily lead to repetition. 
We now, therefore, conclude the geographical notices 
which the history of this portion of the globe has 
naturally suggested, as connected more especially 
with our retrospect of the greatness and magnificence 
to which some parts of it attained under the Roman 
emperors and the earliest of the sultans. But the 
view of its actual condition would not be complete 
did we omit to make a few observations on the pro- 
ductive powers of its soil and climate, and on the 
commerce which might enrich the inhabitants, and 
restore to them in some measure the blessings of 
civilisation.* 



* In our search for materials we have discovered that there is 
in the course of publication at Florence, a " History of the Empire 
of Morocco," in 8vo, by the Chevalier Graberg de Hamsd, many 
years Swedish consul at Tangier and Tripoli. It is to be illustrated 
with an excellent map, the best yet engraved of that country ; els 
the author has taken the outline of the one published by the Geo- 
graphical Society of London 1831, and has joined to it all the in- 
formation he was able to collect during 1 some years' residence at 
Tangier. Aided by a perfect knowledge of Arabic, the Chevalier 
Graberg is well known in the literary world as the author of many 
works, and especially as the translator of the celebrated Arabic MS. 
of the historian Ibnou Khaldour, published in the third volume of 
the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of London. — Nautical Ma- 
gazine, vol. iii. p. 663. 



404 COMMERCE OF THE BAR BAR Y STATES. 



CHAPTER X. 

Commerce of the Barbary States. 

Benefits expected from a Trade with Africa — Plan of Bonaparte 
and Talleyrand to raise in it colonial Produce — French have 
always maintained commercial Relations with Barbary — The 
Fertility of Central Africa — The Congo and Niger — Market at 
Bengazi — Ancient Trade of the Genoese — Exports from Tunis — 
Imports — Commercial Lists of that Pashalic — Trade diminished 
— Bad Policy of the Bey — System of Licenses — Coins, Weights, 
and Measures, at Tunis — Trade of Algiers carried on b} T the Cor- 
sairs — Imports resemble those of Tunis — Manufactures and Ex- 
ports — Mode of Shipbuilding — Present State of Commerce at 
Algiers — Trade with France, England, Italy, Spain, and Tunis — 
Trade of Morocco — 3Iogadore — Total Value of Exports and Im- 
ports — Intercourse with Negro Nations — Coins, Weights, and 
Measures — Physical Advantages of Northern Africa — Hopes of 
Improvement. 

The attention of Europe has at various times been 
excited by the prospect of numerous benefits to be 
derived from a trade with Africa, more especially- 
through the ports situated on its northern shores. 
During the long period occupied by the revolution- 
ary war, when the French were excluded from the 
West India Islands and made dependent on Great 
Britain for colonial produce, various schemes were 
agitated in the councils of Bonaparte, with the view 
of supplying this deficiency by establishing settle- 
ments in the Barbary States. It is said that Tal- 
leyrand suggested a plan for raising on the southern 
coasts of the Mediterranean, and by employing, too, 
the labour of the native inhabitants,, sugar, coffee, 



COMMERCE OP THE BARBARY STATES. 405 

cotton, and all the other commodities which are usu- 
ally conveyed to Europe, at a great expense, from the 
tropical climates of either hemisphere. But the toils 
and hazards of a still loftier ambition withdrew the 
thoughts of the emperor from the colonization of Afri- 
ca, until it was too late to make the attempt ; and that 
project, with others of a less practicable nature, he 
left to his successors, who, with diminished means 
and perhaps with less able instruments, have not 
failed to realize it, at least in part.* 

It is believed that the recommendation of Talley- 
rand was never entirely forgotten, even during the 
most tranquil times of the Bourbon restoration. No 
one could be blind to the hazard that the course 
of events was likely, at no distant day, to deprive all 
the European nations of their transatlantic posses- 
sions ; and that the luxuries, in which the people 
had been long accustomed to indulge, must be 
sought in some other quarter of the globe. The his- 
tory of St Domingo gave a lesson to the politicians 
of Paris, too impressive to be neglected ; and hence 
the lively interest which they have displayed in every 
design which has had for its object the occupation 
of Northern Africa. These reasons, viewed in their 
several bearings, may perhaps justify the conclusion, 
founded on other considerations, that the expedition 
of 1830 was not altogether confined to the chastise- 
ment of the dey, nor to the mere suppression of his 
marauding practices. 

The French, as has been already observed, had 
succeeded, by treaty or otherwise, in obtaining cer- 
tain privileges both at Tunis and Algiers, which for 

* Geographical and Commercial View of Northern Central Afri- 
ca, by James M'Queen, p. 214. 



406 COMMERCE OF THE BARBARY STATES. 

many years gave them a great advantage over all 
competitors in the traffic of that country. Their esta- 
blishment at La Cala was to them the source of much 
wealth and influence,, and they complained bitterly 
when, towards the end of the last century, the trade 
was opened to other nations on a more liberal prin- 
ciple. 

Nor can it be concealed that commercial views have 
all along mixed to a greater or less extent with those 
more generous motives, which, from time to time, 
have induced the British government to second pri- 
vate adventure in the exploration of Africa. The 
gold-mines of the mountainous regions, and the varied 
products of the fertile plains, have never been en- 
tirely absent from the imagination of those patriotic 
statesmen and enterprising merchants, to whom is 
due the great honour of aiding the resolute disco- 
verers, who laboured to trace the course of the Niger 
and the Congo. The vast alluvial districts, which 
stretch to an immense distance from the banks of 
these celebrated rivers, and the acclivities which bask 
in the rays of an equatorial sun, impressed the minds 
of both classes with a firm conviction that, could the 
elements of civilisation be once introduced into Africa, 
the productions of Jamaica, of Hindostan, and even 
of China, might be procured at half the usual expense. 
But our object, in the brief sketch now to be given 
of the commerce of the Barbary States, is not to con- 
jecture the extent to which it might be improved, 
and the numerous advantages inseparable from its 
advancement to the natives as well as to foreigners : 
it is simply to present an outline of the actual trans- 
actions which take place between the dealers of Tri- 
poli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco, and the several 



COMMERCE OF THE BARBARY STATES. 407 

kingdoms of Europe, whose subjects are permitted 
to approach their harbours. 

There is a considerable market at Bengazi, to 
which the numerous Arabs who feed their flocks 
upon the Cyrenean mountains conduct great droves 
of cattle, and bring vast quantities of wool, butter, 
ostrich-feathers, and honey ; and at which they pur- 
chase fire-arms and gunpowder, Tripoli cloaks, and 
earthenware. A great trade in cattle is still carried 
on with Malta, not only for the supply of that island, 
but of vessels which are fitted out for long voyages. 
The ostrich-feathers would alone form a most lucra- 
tive branch of trade, if they could be bought di- 
rectly from the Bedouins ; but the Jews pay a large 
annual tribute to the pasha for the monopoly of that 
article. The skin of the male bird, with all the 
feathers attached, is sold by the natives for about 
thirty Spanish dollars, and that of the female for 
fifteen; while the privileged purchasers dispose of 
them at Leghorn or Marseilles for at least three times 
the original cost. 

From the quantity of goods actually exported, an 
opinion may be formed as to the extent to which com- 
merce might be carried, were the surrounding terri- 
tory cultivated with industry, and the government 
disposed to encourage a fair and open traffic. The 
great trade which the Genoese maintained with the 
Cyrenaica, in the early times of their republic, was 
one of the richest sources of its prosperity ; and we 
find that, though their mercantile and political con- 
nexions with this country were subsequent to those 
formed with Armenia, Syria, and other places both 
in Asia Minor and in Egypt, they, in a short time, 
made such a rapid progress, that, in the year 1267, 



408 COMMERCE OE THE EAR BAR Y STATES. 

the senate thought it expedient to institute at Genoa 
a school for the study of the Saracenic language. 
There accordingly exists in the public archives of 
that city the original manuscript of a treaty, dated 
1236, between the republic and a certain Busache- 
rino, calling himself Lord of Africa, by which the 
subjects of the former were permitted to trade freely 
in any port, from Tripoli to the confines of Barca. 
It appears also that, besides corn, they purchased 
large quantities of wool, ostrich-feathers, oil for their 
soap-manufactories, different sorts of skins, leather, 
wax, and a variety of fruits. In this enumeration, 
made 600 years ago 3 we find the several productions 
of the modern Gyrene : and so abundant was the 
supply of wool, that the Genoese made cloth for 
most of the maritime cities of Europe. Their mer- 
cantile speculations, indeed, were at that period sup- 
ported by the powerful navy which they usually kept 
at sea ; and being allies of Saladin, as well as of the 
Eastern emperors, and at the same time masters of 
Corsica, Cyprus, and several towns in Spain, they 
enforced the observance of treaties by the presence 
of an overwhelming fleet, and once within the very 
walls of Tripoli inflicted ample punishment for the 
violation of good faith.* 

We find that the exports from the pashalic of 
Tripoli in these days are not very different from the 
merchandise produced in the thirteenth century. 
Wool is still specified as an important commodity ; 
to which are added senna and other drugs : madder- 
roots, barilla, hides, goat and sheep skins dressed ; 
salt, trona (an alkali resembling borax), ostrich-fea- 
thers, gold-dust, ivory, gum, dried fruit and dates : 

* Narrative of an Expedition from Tripoli; p. 199. 



COMMERCE OF THE BARBARY STATES. 409 



lotus-beans,, cassol-venere, saffron, bullocks, sheep, 
and poultry. Of all these articles the quality is 
good, and the prices are generally lower than those 
of Algiers and Tunis. The duties imposed by his 
highness are very fluctuating, and usually depend 
on the state of commerce on the opposite shores. 
Cotton is said to have been cultivated very success- 
fully by certain individuals in the regency ; but, 
owing to a want of encouragement, it is not produced 
in such quantities as to form a profitable speculation. 

The list of imports comprehends cloths of every co- 
lour and description, sugar, tea, coffee, spices of all sorts, 
woollen and Manchester stuffs, damasks, silks, gold 
and silver tissues, laces, cochineal, indigo, iron, hard- 
ware of all kinds, small wines, spirits, capillaire, 
gunpowder, cannon, muskets, pistols, and sword- 
blades, naval stores, planks and beams for shipbuild- 
ing, looking-glasses, toys, cotton thread, and similar 
commodities. To those who may be inclined to bar- 
ter, a ready market is generally found at Tripoli ; 
and the profits may be said to vary from sixty to a 
hundred per cent., but are rarely less than the former.* 

Upon inspecting the commercial lists of Tunis, we 
find that the kind of goods produced for exportation, as 
well as such as are received from the European ports, 
bear a great resemblance to those already described. 
Mr M'Gill procured a copy of a tariff, regulating the 
duty or customs on all merchandise imported by the 
subjects of his Britannic Majesty, from which we 
extract the following articles : — Cochineal, gum-lac, 
Pernambuco-wood, vitriol, lead, indigo, coral, quick- 
silver, silk, cloves and other spices, opium, musk, 
tea, steel, nails, gun-barrels, pistols, silks, fine cloths, 

* Letters from the Mediterranean, vol. ii. pp. 41, 42. 



410 COMMERCE OF THE EARBARY STATES. 



muslin, dimity, cambric, sugar in loaf and candied, 
manna, liquorice, cheese, herrings, salmon, arsenic^ 
sarsaparilla, sal-ammoniac, brimstone, rhubarb, cam- 
phor, paper, glass, planks, rafters, and bottles. The 
exports are confined to grain, oils of different quali- 
ties, wool, hides, wax, and a delicate species of soap.* 
The French have profited more than any other 
European kingdom by the trade of the Barbary 
States. Prior to the late war, they procured from 
Northern Africa a large supply of very valuable pro- 
duce, both for their own use and that of their neigh- 
bours, while they found a lucrative and not incon- 
siderablemarket for their several manufactures. Even 
during the progress of hostilities, when they were 
unable to carry on the commerce themselves, they 
regarded the merchants of all other countries as in- 
truders on their proper domain ; and as many na- 
tives of France had settled in the regency, they en- 
joyed advantages which were not conceded to the 
British until the necessity of opening new markets 
suggested to the pasha a more liberal policy. But 
the trade of Tunis, though still the most import- 
ant on the African coast, has suffered a great dimi- 
nution compared to what it was half a century ago. 
Then it was not uncommon to see hundreds of ships 
lying in the roads and at the Goletta, also great 
numbers at all her outports, loading the rich pro- 
ductions of her soil to satisfy the wants of Spain, 
Italy, and France. It is now rare to see more than 
half a dozen vessels at the capital, or above one at a 
time in any of the subordinate harbours ; and these, 
it is added, are of very small burthen. 

This unhappy result is, in some degree, attri- 

* Account of Tunis, p. 112. 



COMMERCE OF THE BARBARY STATES. 411 

butable to the furious war which so long wasted the 
powers of the maritime kingdoms of Europe. But 
the misunderstanding between Algiers and Tunis 
themselves had a still more ruinous effect on the 
commerce of both ; their mutual aggressions by sea 
and land weakened the resources of each ; and at 
length put a final stop to all such intercourse as 
might have encouraged the industry of their respec- 
tive inhabitants. The main cause, however, of this 
decline has been traced to the unwise conduct of the 
bey. From an ill-directed love of gain, he has not 
only become a merchant himself, but also permits 
the whole of his ministers and the people of his court 
to follow his example. The product or manufacture 
which his subjects brought to market, they could 
formerly sell to the highest bidder : now it is seized 
by the rapacity of these princely dealers, and if paid 
for, which is not always the case, a price is given 
at the pleasure of the purchaser, and not with any 
view to the remuneration of the agriculturist or the 
tradesman. 

The French ascribe to the opening of the trade in 
1781 the decline of their commerce on the coast of 
Barbary. Before the period now mentioned, none 
but themselves could carry on trade between that 
country and the shores of Africa, unless upon the 
payment of a duty amounting to twenty per cent. ; 
and there is no doubt that, since other nations were 
admitted on more liberal terms, the mercantile 
transactions of the French have decreased very con- 
siderably. In place of twelve respectable houses, 
which enjoyed a very lucrative business, and also se- 
veral Italian establishments of some repute, Mr M ' Gil 1 
found only two miserable agencies, both of which, 



412 



COMMERCE OF THE BARBARY STATES. 



in the course of a whole year, did not buy and sell 
as much as one of the former used to do in a month. 
Any little commerce now pursued with the northern 
shores of the Mediterranean, is in the hands of 
Moors, Jews, and the Christian subjects of the bey, 
who are sometimes allowed to enter into speculations, 
though viewed as rivals to his highness and the 
court.* 

But the pasha oppresses commerce not only by his 
personal interference as a dealer, he also paralyses 
its energies by a system of license, from which he 
occasionally derives large sums of money. The do- 
cument granted to the merchant is called a teskera, 
and the price of it is regulated by the demand for 
the commodity of which it permits the exportation. 
As the will of his highness is the only rule, the ex- 
pense of procuring leave to ship any article is not un- 
frequently more than equal to the first cost of the 
cargo itself. For example, if wheat be forty-five pi- 
astres the measure, the teskera may be rated at fifty 
piastres ; so that the grain, when put on board, is 
more than doubled in price ; and as there is no 
standard or permanent regulation on this head, the 
foreigner who sails thither for corn, knows not the 
terms on which his purchases are to be made until 
the mandate of the bey has been issued from his 
palace of El Bardo. It is manifest, therefore, that 
until this capricious scheme of finance shall be dis- 
continued, no British merchant will be induced to 
trade with Tunis.t 

Judging from the latest statement we have seen 
on this subject, there seems reason to conclude that 

* Account of Tunis, p. 127- 

•f Letters from the Mediterranean, vol. ii. p. 266. 



COMMERCE OF THE BARBARY STATES. 413 

the interests of commerce are now viewed through a 
more favourable medium, and that the range of its 
operations is again gradually extending. In 1830, 
there entered the ports of Tunis 194 ships, of the 
burden of 20,747 tons, exclusive of those engaged in 
the trade with the other African states and Turkey. 
It would also appear that the largest share of their 
foreign transactions again centres at Marseilles, as in 
the times prior to the Revolution. With England 
there is very little direct intercourse, though there 
is a good deal of business carried on through the 
medium of Gibraltar and Malta. The latter settle- 
ment, indeed, might be amply supplied from that 
quarter with most of the necessaries of life and even 
the luxuries of the table, could the Tunisian govern- 
ment be induced to establish fixed principles of 
trade, and consent to a convenient reciprocity. Bul- 
locks, sheep, fruit, and vegetables, would be shipped 
in the greatest abundance for our garrisons in the 
Mediterranean, if the ancient habits of a barbarian 
despotism were succeeded by the enlightened policy 
of modern Europe/"* 

At Tunis, accounts are kept in piastres, fifteen of 
which are equal to a pound sterling. Gold, silver, and 
pearls, are weighed by the ounce of eight meticals ; 
sixteen of these ounces making one of their pounds, 
or 7773 English grains. The principal commercial 
weight is the cantaro, containing 100 rottoli or 
pounds, being equivalent to 11 1 pounds avoirdupois. 
The chief corn measure is the cafiz, which is equal 
to 14^ imperial bushels. The wine measure is the 
milleroUe of Marseilles, equal to about 14 of our 

* Dictionary, Practical, Theoretical, and Historical, of Commerce, 
&c. by J. R. iM'Culloch, p. 1197. 

2 



414 COMMERCE OF THE BARBARY STATES. 

gallons ; that used for oil is denominated metal or 
mettar, and contains rather more than five wine 
gallons ; but it is of different dimensions in different 
parts of the country, and is larger at Susa, whence 
most of the oil is exported, than at Tunis. The pic 
or pike is the usual instrument for long measure ; 
but it varies when applied to woollen cloth, to silk, 
and to linen. For the first it is 26-5 English inches ; 
for the second it is 24-8 ; and for the last it is only 
18*6 English inches.* 

As to Algiers, before it fell into the occupation of 
the French, its trade was almost entirely carried on 
by the small communities of corsairs, who contrived 
to combine with commerce a destructive war upon 
the mercantile navy of the whole Mediterranean. 
Their imports, as might be expected, differed little 
from those which are in request at Tunis and Tri- 
poli ; consisting chiefly of gold and silver stuffs, da- 
masks, cloths, spices, tin, iron, plated brass, lead, 
quicksilver, cordage, sail-cloth, bullets, cochineal, 
linen, tartar, alum, rice, sugar, soap, copperas, aloes, 
dyewoods, and vermilion. In return they were 
ready to give, — oil, wax, hides, pulse, and corn, 
though not in great quantities, together with the 
usual commodities of rugs, silk sashes, embroidered 
handkerchiefs, ostrich-feathers, dates, and Christian 
slaves, whose ransom sometimes paid for whole 
cargoes. Some manufactures in silk, cotton, wool, 
and leather, were carried on near the metropolis, 
but chiefly by Spaniards who had been induced to 
settle there. Carpets were also made in the country, 
w r hich, though much inferior to those of Turkey, 

* M'Culloch, as above. iAfr M'Gill makes the pike 25 inches, 
27 inches, and 19| respectively. 



COMMERCE OF THE BARBARY STATES. 415 

both in beauty and fineness, were preferred by the 
people as being at once cheaper and softer. It may 
appear strange,, considering the pursuits of the na- 
tives, that the regency furnished no materials for 
shipbuilding. They had neither ropes, tar, sails, 
anchors, nor even iron. When they could procure 
enough of new wood to form the main timbers of a 
vessel, they supplied the rest from the materials of 
the prizes they had taken ; and in this way they 
produced complete fast- sailing cruisers from the ruins 
of captured merchantmen. 

In the " Annuaire," or almanac of Algiers, already 
quoted, we observe copious lists of importations and 
exportations, classed under separate heads, and dis- 
tinguishing the countries from which the goods are 
brought, and whither they are sent. They are farther 
subdivided into animal substances, vegetable sub- 
stances, mineral substances, and manufactures. 

The particulars, which it would be tedious to 
enumerate, correspond in effect to those already 
mentioned, together with such articles of luxury as 
are meant for the French themselves. The amount 
of imports from the conquering country is stated at 
3,891,189 francs ; those from the English posses- 
sions in the Mediterranean are to the value of 
837,142 francs ; from Italy, 1,168,157 ; from Spain, 
108,726; from Tunis, 112,955 ; and from Sweden, 
consisting entirely of timber, 9700. The whole 
sum is 6,127,870 francs, or £255,328 sterling. The 
exportations are classed as follow : — 

From Algiers to France, 631,746 francs. 

English Possessions,.... 4,412 

Italy, 99,335 

Spain, 18,404 

Tunis, 18,782 



772,679 or £32,195. 



416 COMMERCE OF THE BASBARY STATES. 

In the work of Mr Jackson there are ample ma- 
terials for arriving at an accurate estimate of the 
commerce of Morocco, which proves to have been 
more extensive than the neglected state of the coun- 
try and the insecure condition of all kinds of pro- 
perty would have led a casual observer to expect. 
The port of Mogadore is now the principal inlet to 
European produce, whence the capital, at the dis- 
tance of four days' journey, receives its supplies. 
The articles which meet the readiest market are 
cloths of various fabrics, cambrics, muslins, blue 
linens, striped silk, velvets, damask, sugars and 
spices of all kinds, tea, gums of sundry descriptions, 
iron, wrought pewter, tin, white-lead, copper in 
sheets, mirrors, earthenware, paper, coral beads, 
Brazil-wood, and Mexican dollars. 

The exports are sweet-almonds, bitter- almonds, 
gum-Barbary, gum- Soudan, gum-sanclrac, bees' 
wax, goat-skins, oil of olives, sheep's wool, ostrich- 
feathers, elephants' teeth, pomegranates, raisins, 
worm-seed, rose-leaves, glue, fennel, walnuts, cum- 
min-seeds, lead-ore, capers, carraway-seeds, and si- 
milar productions. The total value of imports for 
one year was £151,450, and of exports, after pay- 
ing freight and European duties, was £127,679, — 
an amount which, though not great, was highly 
advantageous to the foreign merchant, inasmuch as 
all the goods conveyed thither were manufactured, 
while all the commodities received in return con- 
sisted of raw produce.* 

But besides the commercial transactions now 
mentioned, Morocco, like the other Barbary States, 
maintains a constant intercourse with the negro na- 
tions beyond the Sahara, whence are brought gold- 
* Jackson's Morocco, p. 193. 



COMMERCE OP THE BARBARY STATES. 417 



dust, ivory, and gums, more especially that valu- 
able species which is known by the name of gum 
Senegal or Soudan. 

At Mogadore, accounts are kept in nutkeels of 
ten ounces; the ounce being divided into four 
blankeels, and the blankeel into twenty-four fluce. 
From their proportion to the Spanish dollar, the 
blankeel may be valued at Id., the ounce at 4d., 
• and the nutkeel or ducat at 3s. 4d. As to weights, 
again, the commercial pound is generally regulated 
by the contents of twenty Spanish dollars ; and 
therefore 100 pounds Mogadore weight, or the quin- 
tal, is equal to 119 pounds avoirdupois. But the 
market pound for provisions is 50 per cent, heavier, 
or one pound twelve and a half ounces avoirdupois. 
The corn measures are for the most part similar to 
those of Spain, though there are considerable dis- 
crepancies. The principal long measure is the cu- 
bit or canna, equal to twenty-one inches English.* 

Northern Africa, as has been already suggested, 
possesses so many physical advantages, and is ca- 
pable of so vast an improvement, that, were it in the 
hands of an enlightened people, its commerce would 
soon rival that of the ancient Phoenicians, or even 
of the most successful among modern nations. The 
country, which was once the granary of Rome, might 
again aiford corn to an immense population, and 
supply with the richest delicacies of the vegetable 
kingdom the luxurious inhabitants of Italy, Spain, 
France, and England. Nor ought the views of an 
expanding trade to be limited to the lands, fertile 
as they may be, which stretch from the edge of the 



* M'Culloch's Dictionary of Commerce, p. 805 ; and Murray's 
Encyclopaedia of Geography, p. 1200. 

2c 



418 COMMERCE OF THE BARBARY STATES. 

Desert to the shores of the Mediterranean. The 
recent discovery of a river connecting the At- 
lantic with the interior of the magnificent plains 
that compose the central provinces of the continent, 
encourages hopes of civilisation,, knowledge, and 
wealth, which at present it might seem romantic to 
express. The arts of Europe, and the astonishing 
command over the elements of nature that science 
continues to confer upon educated man, will enable 
future colonists to subdue the wildest portions of 
the globe, and replenish them, too, with nations 
delighting in the enjoyments of social life, and cul- 
tivating those lofty studies which at once bless and 
adorn the intercourse of human beings.* 



* For additional observations on the commerce of the Barbary 
States, the reader is referred to Pananti's " Narrative of a Resi- 
dence in Algiers," chap, xviii. p. 245, &c. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



419 



CHAPTER XL 

Natural History. 

Additional Knowledge of Africa supplied by the French — Geology 
— Great and Little Atlas — Structure of the former — Succeeded 
b} T Tertiary Rocks — Supposed Extent of the Greater Atlas— 
Cyrenean Mountains — Reflections on the Desert — Relics of or- 
ganized Bodies — Transition -rocks — Limestone — Talc-slate — 
Mineral Species — Secondary Formation — Limestone-shales — 
Marlstones and Sandstone — Embedded Minerals — Extent of the 
Little Atlas — Metals — Tertiary Rocks — Calcareous Sandstone, 
Clays, Porphyry, Dolerite, Greenstone, and Basalt — Blue Marl 
or London -clay — Organic Remains — Volcanic Rocks — Diluvian 
Formation — Soil of Metijah — Postdiluvian Formation — Uniform 
Operation of General Laws — Zoology — Scorpions and Ser- 
pents — Buska — Effah — Boah — Locusts — Quadrupeds — Horreh 
— Aoudad — Nimmer — Heirie — Camel — Desert-horse — Birds — 
Ostrich— El Rogr — Tibib—El Hage— Graab el Sahara — Kara- 
burno — Burourou — Botany — List of Plants — Hashisha — Eu- 
phorbium — Silphium — Medicinal Qualities — Opinions of Delia 
Cella and Beechey — Reflections. 

The scientific world are indebted to the recent 
successes of the French arms in Northern Africa 
for some valuable additions to the knowledge of 
nature in that interesting portion of the globe. 
The travels of Dr Shaw supplied the first collection 
of facts, on which any reliance could be placed, re- 
lative to the minerals, animals, and plants of the 
Barbary States ; and had he possessed a more inti- 
mate acquaintance with geology, his work would 
probably have presented so complete a record of 
physical phenomena as to have left nothing to be 



420 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



accomplished by subsequent writers. It is in re- 
spect to this latter department that we are under the 
greatest obligations to the labours of M. Rozet, the 
author to whose description of Algiers we have 
already drawn the attention of the reader. 



SECTION I. GEOLOGY. 

There appear, between the 28th and the 36th de- 
grees of north latitude, — the limits to which our ob- 
servations are meant to be confined, — two separate 
groups of mountains, which are usually distinguish- 
ed by the names of the Great and the Little Atlas. 
The former, though it has not been minutely examin- 
ed by the eye of science, both from its height and exter- 
nal aspect, may be confidently pronounced to belong 
to the primitive formation. We are, indeed, assur- 
ed on a good authority, that the central and higher 
chains are composed of granite, gneiss, mica-slate, 
and clay-slate, while the inferior ranges exhibit layers 
of secondary limestone and sandstone. These depo- 
sites abound in organic remains, shells, corals, and 
even fishes, and are accordingly said to be referable to 
the calcareous strata of the secondary class, extend- 
ing from the lias 3 or even the magnesian limestone, 
to chalk inclusive. Resting upon these last, again, 
are various of the tertiary rocks, among which, at 
sundry points, are found gypsum and salt-springs. It 
is added, that the secondary and tertiary formations 
are, in numerous places, disturbed and upraised by 
trap-rocks of comparatively modern date.* 

The description now given applies to the whole 



* Article by Professor Jameson, in Murray's Encyclopaedia of 
Geography, p. 1196. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



421 



country northwards of the Atlas, and agrees in 
substance with the minuter details furnished by 
the French engineer. We cannot, however, refrain 
from observing, that no information is any where 
conveyed as to the termination, on the east or the 
south, of that lofty mass to which our inquiries are 
now directed. It has been sometimes supposed 
that the alpine range, of which the towering sum- 
mits are seen from Morocco, extends to the banks 
of the Nile ; or, at least, droops into the Desert 
near the site of the celebrated Ammonium, at no 
great distance from the territory of Barca. Others 
have been willing to trace the continuity of this 
formation to the neighbourhood of Syene, where 
mountains of a kindred origin flank the course of 
the river, and stretch towards the centre of the 
continent. But it must be admitted, that there 
is no good ground for either of these conjectures. 
Delia Cella is decidedly of opinion, that the hills of 
the Cyrenaica are not a prolongation of that mag- 
nificent chain which rises upon the northern border 
of the African coast, and extends, in the manner 
already described, from the Great Syrtis as far 
as the kingdom of Morocco. This, he acknow- 
ledges, does not prevent the calcareous constitution 
of Mount Atlas from forming also the character of 
the Cyrenean mountains. The hills between Tu- 
nis and Algiers are, for the most part, composed of 
limestone, and are full of shells; and such is the 
character of the eminences observed by Hornemann 
in the tract beyond the Barcean Wilderness. But 
the long space, beginning at these heights and ter- 
minating at the granitic mountains on the Nile, 
whence the Egyptians and Romans drew the enor- 



422 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



mous stones which they employed in adorning their 
public edifices, is covered with a level ocean of sand. 
It appears, therefore, that the system of rocks, to 
which the ridges of the Cyrenaica belong, has no im- 
mediate connexion with the Atlas, properly so call- 
ed, but rather with that smaller group, denominated 
the Little Atlas, which, rising to a considerable 
elevation in some parts of the Algerine and Tunisian 
States, attains a still nobler altitude in the country 
of the ancient Pentapolis, and at length finally de- 
clines in theCatabathmos towards the land of Egypt. 
It is also manifest, that the bases of the mountains 
on this part of the Mediterranean coast are covered, 
upon their northern borders, with a marine alluvial 
soil, sometimes decomposed and sandy, and some- 
times conglomerated in crusts of different degrees 
of thickness.* 

The mention of the Desert cannot fail to remind 
the reader, that the consideration of its flat and 
dreary waste suggests one of the most difficult pro- 
blems in geology. The numerous relics of organized 
bodies which must have been produced in the sea, 
mixed with the remains of forests which probably 
at one time adorned a variety of hills and valleys 
now obliterated by sand, seem to afford evidence that 
the present aspect of Central Africa is not the origi- 
nal one, but ought to be ascribed to some dreadful 
catastrophe, of which it perpetuates the effects. 
"Africa," says a late traveller, " has evidently been 
washed across." It is therefore, he presumes, rea- 
sonable to conclude, that the weary plains in the 
interior, south of the Atlantic range, may have been 
thus overwhelmed, and that a submerged country, 
* Narrative, p. 166. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



423 



| once fertilized by the streams which descend from 
the southern skirts of Atlas, is now covered by 
sand possessing a depth not to be ascertained.* 

But, leaving these general reflections, which par- 
take too much of conjecture to recommend to our 
belief any inferences founded upon them, we pro- 
ceed to give an outline of the geological structure 
of those sections of the country which have been 
actually examined. We find, then, that the fol- 
lowing formations have been distinctly ascertained : 
the transition ; the secondary ; the tertiary ; the 
volcanic ; the alluvial or diluvian ; to which may 
be added those minor results springing from causes 
still in operation, as connected with the agency of 
the sea, rivers, and the action of the atmosphere. 

1. The transition-rocks are observed on the shore 
near Algiers, where the tertiary lime and sand stone 
are seen reposing on talc-slate, similar to that which 
is found on the coast of France, in the neighbour- 
hood of Toulon. This slate forms the principal 
mass of the mountain called Bou Zaria, and of the 
hill on which the capital is built, extending as 
far as Cape Matafuz. It presents itself in strata 
very much inclined to the horizon and dipping to- 
wards the south, but never in beds ; and in some 
parts it is seen passing into a well-characterized 
mica-schist; while in others the felspar predomi- 
nates so entirely as to give rise to a distinct species of 
gneiss. There are also certain strata of limestone 
subordinate to the slate, having a gray colour and 
a saccharoid appearance. This rock often becomes 
schistose, and then it passes by an easy change into 
slate. Throughout these compound masses are dis- 

* Keatinge's Travels ia Africa, vol. i. p. 215. 



424 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



covered veins of quartz, portions of iron-pyrites, 
and lead-glance. At Cape Matafuz, where the talc- 
slate passes into mica-slate, there are still beds of 
limestone placed at a great inclination, denoting 
the extent of the power by which they have been 
elevated from their horizontal posture. 

On the same line of coast, the talc-schist, by in- 
sensible degrees, passes into a brown mica-slate 
containing thin layers of white felspar, some of 
which, by an additional quantity of mica, become 
gneiss, — a result which is also produced when the 
mica-slate, in its turn, combines with felspar. 
Thus, gneiss appears in a variety of instances as the 
principal member of the formation, being distin- 
guished by an excess of felspar, usually white and 
of a large leaf or lamina. The stratification is very 
irregular, and presents unequivocal marks of a vio- 
lent action, occasioned, it is probable, by the inser- 
tion of some subordinate rocks. It is not particu- 
larly rich in the mineral species which are diffused 
in it; the chief of w r hich are white and smoke- 
coloured quartz, pure felspar, crystals of tourma- 
line, and some fine specimens of white mica. The 
gneiss does not afford any traces of organic remains ; 
and it is remarked that, though the mountains 
composed of it are less elevated than those of slate, 
the form of both is almost entirely the same. 

2. The secondary formation in the Algerine ter- 
ritory seems to reduce itself chiefly to what is called 
the lias member, comprehending limestone-shales, 
marlstones, and some sandstones, which occur 
along with them. The marls are sometimes very 
bituminous, and contain beds of lignite or brow r n 
coal, and also fossil-shells, and occasionally beds of 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



425 



gypsum, fossil-wood, with siliceous impressions of 
ferns, cycadacese, and fuci. The animal-remains 
are numerous and interesting, comprising bones and 
skeletons of extinct tribes, such as the genera geo- 
saurus, ichthyosaurus, and plesiosaurus. In par- 
ticular, the lias contains an immense quantity of 
fossil-shells, of which the predominating one is the 
Gryphcea arcuata ; and hence the marlstones of 
this formation have occasionally been named gry- 
phite limestones.* 

The Little Atlas, which is said to extend six 
hundred miles in length and about eight in breadth, 
is described as consisting principally of slaty marl, 
alternating with strata of calcareous matter. The 
former, which appears to prevail, is quite the same 
as that found in the lias-beds of Europe, and is 
associated with calcareous sandstone, and sometimes 
with a whitish rock, extremely hard, styled a cal- 
cariferous silex. In the Mountains of Beni Sala 
these marls are intersected by veins of white quartz ; 
and near the summit they are seen gradually 
becoming harder, till they pass into a slate resem- 
bling that of the transition series, and which no 
longer effervesces in nitric acid. The organic re- 
mains are not so abundant in the African as in the 
European lias ; the specimens mentioned by M. 
Rozet not exceeding some fragments of oysters, 
some pectenes, belemnites, a small ammonite, but 
not a single vegetable impression. Copper appears 
in considerable quantities, and might in some 
places be wrought to advantage; but no attempt 
towards such an object could be made in the midst 
of a desert country, and exposed to the continued 

* Jameson, in Murray's Encyclopaedia of Geography, p. 223. 



426 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



assault of the most cruel and faithless hordes on the 
face of the earth. 

3. In regular succession, the tertiary rocks rest 
upon the chalk or uppermost member of the se- 
condary class ; and though, generally speaking, they 
are looser in texture than the foregoing, they are, 
in some cases, not less compact. They abound in 
fossil remains of the animal and vegetable king- 
doms, of which the genera are commonly the same 
with those now in existence, though many of the 
species are different. In this division of the mineral 
world are included some clays, calcareous sand- 
stones, and trap-rocks, such as porphyry, dolerite, 
greenstone, and basalt. To these maybe added, as 
it respects Africa, beds of sand more or less impreg- 
nated with iron, and which alternate with sand- 
stone, or a ferrugineous limestone, known to the 
French as " calcaire grossier," and in England by 
the familiar appellation of London-clay. In the 
vicinity of the Little Atlas this aggregation of beds 
rests upon a blue marl a little paler than that which 
belongs to the lias formation. On the southern side 
of the range, especially, there appears an immense 
group of hills, extending to a great distance in all 
directions, and some of them rising nearly to the 
height of 5000 feet above the level of the sea ; all 
of which are composed of the rocks now described, 
constituting a formation quite similar to that found 
in Italy on either declivity of the Apennines. 

The blue marl is covered by a great depth of cal- 
careous sandstone, as also of London-clay with co- 
rals, alternating with sand, both yellow and red. 
The sandstone also, when much impregnated with 
iron, assumes the same colour. The beds which 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



427 



compose it incline to the north at an angle which 
never exceeds 20° ; they are even sometimes quite 
horizontal. This tertiary formation contains an im- 
mense quantity of large oysters, — ostria elongata, — 
entirely identical with those which are found in the 
corresponding position in Provence and Italy. No 
fragment, however, has been discovered of the bones 
of fish or quadrupeds. The limestone, which is fre- 
quently compact, presents in its composition a great 
number of corals, as is the case in Austria and Hun- 
gary. The oysters lie in the mass of sandstone, but 
more particularly in the sand itself, which is inter- 
posed between the beds. They are found grouped 
together, several in one place, and most of them 
retain their two valves or shells, — a proof that they 
are still in the place in which they were when alive, 
however distant the period. 

All the country that the French army have hitherto 
passed over southward of the Little Atlas, consists of 
this tertiary formation ; and, in judging by analogy 
from the form of the hills as they appeared to the 
eye at a distance, it was concluded that the same 
rocks prevail to a great extent, both towards the 
east and the west, comprehending all the basins in- 
vested by the several chains of mountains to the 
border of the Sahara. The sands of that desert, it 
is conjectured by M. Rozet, are nothing different 
from the sand which is sometimes found in the 
higher parts of this formation, and beneath which 
the sandstone and lime exist in horizontal beds co- 
vering the blue marl. Hence, it is not improbable, 
that a similar succession obtains throughout the 
whole of the dreary waste which separates Barbary 
from the regions of the Senegal and Niger. 



428 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



It is a little remarkable, that though the rocks 
which skirt the northern edge of the great plain of 
the 3Ietijah are the same, and arranged in the same 
order with those on the south side of the Little Atlas, 
the inclination as well as the fossil-remains are dif- 
ferent. These last are much more abundant in the 
hills near the coast, and the shell-fish are often seen 
distinguished by families ; consisting usually of the 
pectenes, the gryphites, — ostria navicularis, — large 
oysters, but very different from those of the south- 
ern range, terebratuli, echinites, and several polypi. 

4. Of volcanic rocks there is no trace in all the 
portion of the Elinor Atlas visited by the enterpris- 
ing Frenchman, nor in any part of the great plain 
already so often mentioned. It was only at Cape 
Matafuz, in the neighbourhood of the fort, that tra- 
chyte was observed as having issued from under the 
tertiary formation. A very curious fact was also 
witnessed in the same place. All the beds of lime- 
stone which repose upon the blue marl are perfectly 
horizontal ; but at the place where the porphyry has 
forced its way through the strata there is a depres- 
sion, and the beds are there found inclined to the ho- 
rizon at an angle of from 15 : to 20 c . The trachyte 
of ^latafuz is a petro-siliceous rock, enclosing small 
crystals of white felspar, with minute plates of brown 
mica, and we need not add that it belongs to the fa- 
mily of the porphyries. Small fragments of porous 
lava were picked up, but could not be traced to their 
site. There is hardly any doubt that basaltic for- 
mations will be detected at no great distance from 
the spot, so soon as the zeal of science can be sepa- 
rated with impunity from the vigilance of military 
life, and the student of nature can venture to go 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



429 



abroad without the protection of a regular escort 
carrying ball-cartridge. 

5. The diluvian formation, as the phrase is used 
by French authors, seems to denote those changes 
on the face of the earth produced by a great rush 
of waters, whether that recorded in Sacred Writ, or 
any subsequent flood which may have since affected 
particular localities. The whole soil of the plain of 
Metijah is said to consist of alluvial matter, usually 
displayed in horizontal beds of an argillaceous marl, 
and of rolled pebbles, greatly water- worn, but among 
which are never found large blocks of stone. Every 
where are seen the deserted beds of spacious rivers, the 
steep banks of which afford a good opportunity for 
studying the geognostic constitution of the country. 
Copious streams must formerly have flowed along 
these channels, and given to the adjoining districts 
the geological character they still retain. The nature 
of the marl, it is observed, is nearly the same through- 
out, but that of the pebbles often changes both in 
quality and magnitude. Near the foot of the moun- 
tains, the hollows, once occupied by torrents, display 
large masses of quartz, black and gray limestone, 
and numerous portions of slate, which must have 
been brought down by the weight of water acting 
on the declivities. 

The bed of vegetable earth, still in many places 
several feet thick, is always composed of the allu- 
vial marl, which is compact in its structure, and not 
easily penetrated by water ; and hence the origin of 
the springs and rivulets that are occasionally observ- 
ed while crossing the plain. The level of the ground, 
too, is perceived to rise gradually as the traveller ap- 
proaches the Atlas. At Mazafran the soil is only 



430 NATURAL HISTORY. 



seventy feet above the sea, whereas fifteen miles 
farther south, it has attained the elevation of 520 
feet. We have observed, in the works of Delia 
Cella and M. Rozet, mention made of red marl and 
red sand, especially in the vicinity of the coast. The 
former collected a quantity near Apollonia, the sin- 
gular colour of which, after a close examination, he 
found to proceed from a very minute species of co- 
ral, dispersed among the sand in such abundance as 
to constitute about one-third of its bulk. Having 
put half an ounce of it into nitric acid, it almost en- 
tirely disappeared ; differing in this respect from the 
common sand of the Desert, which was not acted 
upon by that liquid in the slightest degree. It is not 
improbable that the red marl at Algiers may have 
acquired its colour in a similar way. — Small beds 
of travertin were seen on the sides of the mountains 
near the sea, evidently formed by filtration from the 
superior strata. 

6. We find, moreover, a postdiluvian formation 
recorded by the staff-officer, and which is meant to 
comprehend those changes that are brought to pass 
by existing causes ; namely, the action of the wind 
in raising mounds of sand along the shore ; the for- 
mation of new land at the mouths of rivers ; the dis- 
emboguement of lakes ; and the disintegration of 
rocks. But the country has not yet been subjected 
to an examination sufficiently minute to justify any 
conclusions as to any recent modification of its surface 
in the respects now mentioned. 

M. Rozet sees reason to believe that all the igne- 
ous rocks he has described, the granites, porphyries, 
and dolomites, are posterior to the tertiary forma- 
tion, — a fact not quite so well confirmed as its im- 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



431 



portance, viewed in a geological sense, would re- 
quire. He expresses, too, a degree of astonishment 
with which few of his readers will sympathize, at 
finding near Oran dolerites, — a compound of augite 
and felspar, — where he expected porphyry. As both, 
according to the received system of geology, are of Plu- 
tonian origin, it is clearly impossible to determine, 
in any particular case, which of the two is the more 
likely to present itself, as the agent employed by na- 
ture to elevate the superincumbent strata.* 

The knowledge we now possess of the mineralogi- 
cal structure of Northern Africa, limited and imper- 
fect as it unquestionably is, affords another proof of 
the universal as well as the uniform operation of 
those laws under which the crust of the earth has 
assumed its present appearance. The shore at Al- 
giers, the heights of the Minor Atlas, the plain of 
Metijah, and the Cyrenean hills, exhibit the same 
phenomena to which the eye of the geologist has been 
long accustomed in the best-known countries of 
Europe. In fact, there is a great resemblance be- 
tween the districts now occupied by the French, — es- 
pecially if restricted to the tertiary formation, — and 
the lands in the neighbourhood of Paris and London. 
It is, indeed, a remark as old as the days of Dr Shaw, 
that the stone used in the ancient edifices of Julia 
Csesarea, Sitifi, Cirta, and Carthage, was not much 
different either in texture or colour from the Hed- 
dington stone in the vicinity of Oxford, — a mixture 
of calcareous and siliceous substances, which, in 
some cases, approaches to marl, and even to chalk, t 

We learn from the same author, that near Algiers 

* Voyage dans la Regence d' Alger, tome i. p. 21-76*. 
•f Travels in Barbary, vol. i. p. 279. 



432 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



and Bona, the schistose talc lies immediately upon 
the surface, and is often very beautifully gilded 
with gold-like mica, while the sparry matter which 
fills up the fissures glitters with spangles imitat- 
ing silver. Delia Cella observed a similar appear- 
ance in the eastern parts of the Tripoline territory, 
occasioned by a combination of iron-pyrites with 
mica, talc, and crystallized limestone. 

As to metals, iron and lead are the only ones that 
have been hitherto discovered, if we except the sup- 
posed mines of gold and silver in the empire of Mo- 
rocco. The iron is said to be good, though not abun- 
dant, and being wrought by the Kabyles in the 
mountainous districts of Bujeya, was wont to be 
conveyed to Algiers in small short bars. The lead- 
ores are in general very rich ; and, provided the 
works were under a better regulation, they would 
produce a great quantity of metal. We have already 
suggested, that in the hilly parts of the country there 
are very distinct indications of copper, — a commo- 
dity which is highly prized in the regency of Algiers, 
and will one day, there can be no doubt, prove to 
it a source of much wealth. 



SECTION II. — ZOOLOGY. 

It was a maxim among the ancients, originating in 
their ignorance of nature, and perpetuated by their 
belief in spontaneous generation, that ce Africa was 
always producing some new monster." But a closer 
survey has proved, that the southern shores of the 
Mediterranean exhibit no living creatures which 
may not be found in every other part of the world 
where there are the same qualities of soil and climate. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



433 



The naturalist who proceeds systematically would 
arrange his observations under separate heads, be- 
ginning with the simplest conformations, and ad- 
vancing gradually to those which are more complex. 
At the opening of his path he would find zoophytes, 
mollusca, including cephalopodes, and other species; 
after which he would direct his attention to fishes, to 
frogs, to reptiles, to the Crustacea, or land-crabs and 
turtles, and finally to insects. Having afterwards ex- 
hausted ornithology, he would in due time arrive at 
the Mammalia, — a class which embraces nearly all 
descriptions of quadrupeds, and even man himself, 
the lord of this province of the visible creation. 

But our scheme is much more limited, extending 
no farther than is implied in the desire to lay before 
our readers such a view as may prove intelligible 
to them all, of the several animals which are either 
peculiar to Africa, or appear in that region invested 
with qualities not common elsewhere. Not finding, 
for example, that the zoophytes, the mollusca, or the 
Crustacea of the Barbary States, are in any material 
respects different from those which occur in every 
kingdom of Europe, we shall refrain from copying 
long lists of names descriptive of species belonging to 
every continent, and possessing no interest except in 
the estimation of a scientific zoologist. 

Africa has long been celebrated for scorpions and 
serpents; and although none are now to be found so ex- 
tremely formidable as that enormous specimen which 
impeded the progress of a Roman army, there are 
some sufficiently large and destructive to inspire a 
great degree of terror. Of the latter there are only 
two species understood to be very venomous ; the one 
of a black colour, about seven or eight feet long, with 

2 D 



434 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



a little head, which it expands frequently to four 
times its ordinary size when about to attack any 
object. This serpent is called buska, and is the only 
one that will assail a passenger unprovoked; in do- 
ing which it coils itself up, and darts to a great dis- 
tance by the elasticity of its body and tail. The 
wound inflicted by the bite is small ; but the sur- 
rounding part immediately turns black, and the suf- 
ferer expires in a very short time. El effah is the 
name of the other serpent, remarkable also for its 
quick and penetrating poison. It is about two feet 
long, and as thick as a man's arm, beautifully spot- 
ted with yellow and brown, and sprinkled all over 
with black specks, similar to the horn-nosed snake. 
In the desert of Suz, their holes are so numerous, 
that it is difficult for a horse to pass over them with- 
out stumbling. 

But the boah, or snake of the Sahara, is the most 
enormous of these monsters, being from twenty to 
eighty feet long, and as thick as a man's body. It 
is not strictly poisonous, though in its ravages it is 
not less destructive to the other inhabitants of the 
waste. So swift is its motion, that the Arab de- 
scribes it as setting fire to the Desert by the extreme 
velocity of its course ; and hence there is no possi- 
bility of escaping. It will twist itself round an ox, 
crush the bones, and swallow it gradually : after 
which it lies torpid on the ground several days, un- 
able to proceed until the process of digestion be com- 
pleted. A few years ago, two of these reptiles sta- 
tioned themselves near the road from Morocco to 
Terodant; one of them was killed, the other re- 
mained there several days, and prevented travellers 
from passing forward. As neither was more than 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



435 



twenty feet in length, it was concluded that they 
were both young. 

Most of the other serpents are harmless, and may 
be tamed ; and in some towns there are few houses 
without one, which may be seen moving along the 
roof of the apartment. They are never molested by 
the family^ who would not hurt them on any con- 
sideration, believing that they bring a blessing on 
the household. On their part, too, they are extreme- 
ly susceptible of offence, and alive to the slightest 
appearance of injury ; on which account, it is thought 
imprudent to incur their displeasure. 

The scorpion abounds very much in some parts of 
Barbary, particularly among stones and old houses. 
It is generally about two inches in length, and in 
its colour varies from yellow to brown, and even to 
black. The wound inflicted by it is followed by a 
feeling of intense cold, and very often terminates in 
death. During the summer, we are informed, the city 
of Morocco is so infested with this venomous reptile, 
that it is not uncommon to find them in the beds. 
As the flesh of the creature itself, applied to the part 
of the body which has been stung, effects a certain 
cure, most families keep a bottle of scorpions infused 
in olive-oil ; it being ascertained that a dead one is 
not less efficacious as a remedy, than if the indivi- 
dual which had inflicted the wound were itself killed 
and used for the purpose. 

There is no country in the world which suffers 
more than Northern Africa from the desolation com- 
mitted by the locust. The production of this winged 
plague is one of the secrets of nature ; for after an 
interval of many years, during which it is not seen, 
it issues from the Desert in such numbers, as not 

7 



436 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



only to destroy all the fruits of the earth, but even 
to cover the surface of the ground. In Barbary they 
are always observed to come from the south, the di- 
rection of the Sahara, whereas in Palestine they pro- 
ceed from the east, — a fact which establishes their 
origin in connexion with the Wilderness, the vast 
expanse of sandy waste which constitutes the bound- 
ary of both regions. They are understood to have 
a government among themselves similar to the ants 
and bees ; and when the Sultan Jeraad, or King of 
the Locusts, rises into the air, the whole body follow 
him : and in their course they proceed as regularly 
as a disciplined army on its march, nor is a single 
one seen either remaining behind or going a differ- 
ent way from the rest. When young this insect is 
green, but as it grows it assumes first a yellow colour, 
and then becomes black. The sultan is said to be 
larger and more beautifully coloured than the rest, 
though it is not easy to procure a sight of him. 

At certain seasons the locust is esteemed a £reat 
delicacy, and dishes of them are generally served up 
at the repasts of the principal families. The usual 
mode of cooking is to boil them in water half an 
hour, then sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and 
fry them, adding a little vinegar: the head, legs, 
and wings are thrown away, the rest of the body is 
eaten, and resembles the taste of prawns. 

Of quadrupeds, we shall only mention a few of the 
more striking ; purposely omitting those which are 
common to the different parts of Africa, such as the 
red fox, the hyena, the gazelle, the horse, and the 
camel. 

The horreh is greatly esteemed among the Arabs 
for its beauty and cleanliness, and is accounted the 



I 

NATURAL HISTORY. 437 

prince of animals. It is an inhabitant of the Sahara, 
and is never found to the north of the river Suz. 
Jn form and size, it is somewhat similar to the 
gazelle ; the colour of its back and head is of a light 
red, inclining to that of a fawn ; while the belly is 
of a white so beautiful and delicate, that its bril- 
liancy affects the eyes in a manner bearing some 
resemblance to the sensation produced in them by 
looking steadfastly at fine scarlet. According to the 
belief of the natives, it never lies down lest it should 
impair the splendour of its fur, of the elegance of 
which it appears fully conscious ; and as it is held 
the emblem of purity, its skin is preferred by the 
rich to all other substances when used as a cushion 
or mat on which to prostrate themselves at prayer. 

The aoudad is an animal which is never found 
except among the cliffs or forests of Mount Atlas, 
southwards of Morocco and the Lower Suz. It 
sometimes, indeed, descends to the rivers to drink, 
where it is seen throwing itself from lofty preci- 
pices into the plain below, when it generally alights 
on its horns or shoulders. None of them have ever 
been taken alive, being so very wild that it is not 
possible to approach them without great danger. 
In size and colour it is not unlike a calf, but has a 
beautiful long mane or beard flowing from the lower 
part of the neck ; it has strong teeth, and curved 
horns about twelve inches in length. 

The nimmer is closely related to the leopard ; be- 
ing spotted rather than striped, and in size resem- 
bles the royal tiger of Asia. It is remarkable for 
strength and agility; putting to a severe task all 
the ingenuity and courage of the African hunters. 
When roused to anger, he is considered more dan- 



438 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



gerous than the lion ; because he is not only more 
active, but climbs trees after his assailants, and scales 
the walls which they may have ascended. 

The sibsib appears to be of an intermediate species 
between the rat and the squirrel, being somewhat 
similar to the ichneumon in form, though not half 
its size. It inhabits the Atlas, and lives in holes 
among the stones and caverns of the mountains : it 
has brown hair, and a beautiful tail about the length 
of its whole body. The Arabs eat this animal, and 
consider it a delicacy, notwithstanding the prohibi- 
tion of their prophet, who forbade the use of such 
quadrupeds as burrow under ground. The sibsib 
is seldom seen northwards of the province of Suz, 
but it abounds in all the mountains of that district.* 

The heirie, erragnol, or desert-camel, is an ani- 
mal which must not be omitted in our zoological 
outline. In form, it bears a strong resemblance to 
the common camel, but is more elegant in its shape 
and incomparably swifter. The Arab mounted 
upon this useful creature, with his loins, ears, and 
breast bound round, in order to prevent the fatal 
effects which result from a violent percussion of the 
air, traverses with immense rapidity the scorching 
sands of the Great Sahara, the fiery atmosphere of 
which impedes respiration to a degree that would 
instantly kill any other rider. The motion of the 
erragnol is violent, and can only be endured by 
those patient, abstemious, and hardy individuals 
who are accustomed to it, and who can travel three 
days without tasting food, or not more than a hand- 
ful of dates. When speaking of this fleet courser, 

* An Account of the Empire of Morocco, by James Grey Jack- 
son, Esq. p. 31-37* 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



439 



the natives remark in their figurative style, " If 
thou shalt meet a heirie, and say to the rider Salam 
alec, ere he shall have answered Alec salam, he will 
be far off, and nearly out of sight, for his swiftness 
is like the wind." 

Of this singular species of the camel there are 
three varieties, easily distinguished by the natives 
of the African Wilderness. The first, which is ex- 
tremely rare, is denominated tasayee, or the heirie 
of nine days ; that is, he can perform a nine days' 
journey in one. The second is the sabayee, which 
in one day can go the usual distance of seven ; and 
the third, or most inferior, is the talatayee, whose 
speed is limited to a three days' journey. This va- 
luable and useful animal, we are informed, has a 
ring put through its upper-lip, to which is fixed a 
leathern strap, answering the purpose of a bridle ; 
the saddle is similar to that used by the Moors and 
the mountaineers of Andalusia. With a goat-skin, 
or a porous earthen vessel, filled with water, a few 
dates, and some ground barley, the Arab travels 
from Timbuctoo to Tafilet, feeding his heirie but 
once ; for on an emergency this powerful quadru- 
ped will abstain from drinking during the long space 
of seven days.* 

The shruabah ereeh, or desert-horse, has also some 
remarkable qualities, and partakes to a certain ex- 
tent of the constitution belonging to the wonderful 
creature now described. As, however, he requires 
a feed of camel's milk every day, he is not so well 
fitted for the fatigues of the Sahara, where such an 
accommodation cannot always be procured. If con- 



* Jackson's Morocco, p. 40. The heirie is by Dr Shaw called 
maihary or ashaary, vol. i. p. 306. 



440 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



fined to corn, hay, or straw, he loses at once his 
beauty and his swiftness, and not unfrequently 
pines away. The ereeh resembles a greyhound in 
form, having a slender body, a powerful broad chest, 
and small legs ; and his principal use in the hands 
of an Arab is to hunt the ostrich, at which he is 
said to be very expert.* 

In the department of birds there is no great va- 
riety in the Barbary States, as distinguished from 
other parts of the same continent. The ostrich, the 
eagle, the vulture, and the stork, are found here in 
great perfection, more especially in the neighbour- 
hood of the Atlas, where the monarch of winged 
creatures enjoys his throne in the utmost security. 
Of the stork, the general colour is white, the extre- 
mities of the wings being tipped with black, and the 
height from the toe to the bill nearly three feet. 
During the summer, the old towns of West Bar- 
bary are frequented by these birds, which usually 
go in pairs ; they are migratory, and when they do 
not return to their wonted haunts at the accustomed 
season, it is considered by the inhabitants as omi- 
nous of evil. Any person who should presume to 
shoot this sacred visiter would incur the resentment 
of the whole city, and be accounted a sacrilegious 
infidel ; for besides being of the greatest utility in 
destroying serpents and other noxious reptiles, they 
are also emblematical of faith and conjugal affection, 
and, on that account, held in the highest estimation 
by all true Mussulmans. 

There is a bird, by the natives called el rogr, 

* Jackson, p. 42. We purposely abstain from a description of 
the quadrupeds and birds common to the Barbary States with the 
other parts of Africa, referring the reader to the fuller notices con- 
tained in our volumes on Egypt, Nubia and Abyssinia. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



441 



which in form is not unlike the English partridge, 
though its plumage is much darker. It is found 
only in dry stony places, and seems to feed on the 
stunted shrubs with which such rocky parts are 
usually covered ; basking in the solar rays with 
every appearance of delight, and only rising on the 
wing at noon and sunset, when it flies to the near- 
est river to quench its thirst. This variety is alto- 
gether unknown in Europe. 

The tibib, which resembles the sparrow, is very 
common in Barbary, and visits the houses every 
morning without the slightest symptom of fear. It 
was originally an inhabitant of the Atlas, whence it 
was brought by an English merchant to Mogadore, 
where the breed has continued ever since. 

El hage, not so large as a blackbird, and of a 
grayish colour, lives upon beetles and other insects 
of a similar nature, which he never eats till they be- 
gin to putrefy. He frequents thorny bushes, on the 
upper spikes of which he sticks his little victims, 
where they are allowed to remain till by their scent 
they show proofs of incipient decay, and invite him 
to a repast. He has obtained his name, el hage or 
hajji, from the circumstance, that numbers of them 
are seen accompanying the caravans to Mecca ; and 
hence the reverence and even superstition with which 
he is regarded by the more ardent disciples of the 
prophet. 

Dr Shaw mentions the graab el Sahara, or crow of 
the Desert, which is somewhat larger than the com- 
mon raven ; and from the redness of the feet and bill 
may be identified with the pyrocorax. The kara- 
burno is of the eagle-kind, and not smaller than 
our buzzard ; having a black bill, red iris, yellow 



442 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



short feet, the back of a gray or light-blue colour, 
the pinions of the wings black, and the tail whitish. 
The burourou, one of the largest species of horned- 
owls, is spotted like the Norwegian. It generally 
frequents the Sahara: and when it appears to the 
northward among the towns and villages it is fan- 
cied to portend some direful calamity, a famine, or 
a pestilential distemper. 4 



SECTION III. BOTANY. 

On this subject there is a valuable fund of in- 
formation, though interesting chiefly to a professional 
botanist^ to be obtained in the " Flora Atlantica" 
of the celebrated Desfontaines. We learn also from 
Rozet, that the members of the vegetable kingdom, 
which occupy the plain between the coast and the 
range of the Little Atlas, are absolutely the same as 
those most common on the northern and eastern 
shores of the Mediterranean, the borders of Spain, 
Provence, Italy, the Archipelago, and Syria. The 
trees and plants which adorn the fields in the tem- 
perate latitudes of Europe, are also seen in the gar- 
dens of Algiers, Bleeda, and Colea. In the neigh- 
bourhood of the capital were observed the following, 
most of which are familiar to the students of France, 
and even of England : — Fumaria Officinalis : Meli- 
lotus Officinalis : Mimosa Famesiana ; Sanguisorba 
Officinalis: Mespylus Oxyacantha: Scabiosa Ar- 
vensis: Senecio Vulgaris; Convolvulus Arvensis ; 
Borago Officinalis ; Solanum Nigrum ; Solanum 
Dulcamara : Lamium Album ; Marrubium Vulgare; 
Mentha Pulegium : Anagallis Arvensis ; Plantago 



* Shaw's Travels, vol. i. p. '332. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



443 



Coronopus ; Plantago Media ; Rumex Acetosella ; 
UrticaUrens; Salix Alba ; Salix Babylon ica, &c. 

The following are peculiar to the Barbary States, 
and are not found even in the southern parts of Eu- 
rope. M. Rozet discovered them chiefly on the hills 
near Algiers, in the plain of the Metijah, and in 
the vicinity of Oran : — Condylocarpus Muricatus ; 
Cleome Arabica ; Cistus Heterophyllus, Cistus Ara- 
bicus ; Malva iEgyptiaca ; Genista Tricuspidata; 
Phaca Bcetica; Pyrus Japonica; SanguisorbaMauri- 
tanica ; Passiflora Casrulea ; Sempervivum Arbo- 
reum; Ferula Sulcata; Laserpitium Gummife- 
rum ; Sium Siculum ; Apium Graveolens ; Cachrys 
Tomentosa, Cachrys Peucedanoides ; Zacintha Ver- 
rucosa; Carduus Giganteus; Atrachylis Gummi- 
fera ; Artemisia Arboria; Cynara Carduncellus ; 
Erica Arboria; Lithospermum Fruticosum ; Da- 
tura Ferox ; Physalis Somnifera ; Scrophularia Au- 
riculata ; Thymus Numidicus ; Rumex Tingitanus ; 
Aristolochia Bcetica; Euphorbia Mauritanica ; Pi- 
nus Alba ; Iris Florentina ; Allium Roseum ; Or- 
nithogalum Arabicum ; Narcissus Tazetta ; Scilla 
Maritima; Arundo Bonax; Arundo Mauritani- 
ca, &c.* 

Among the more familiar plants, prized in North- 
ern Africa, are the takanareete, the hashisha, the 
dergmuse, or euphorbium, and the celebrated sil- 
phium, so long an article of commerce. 

The first, which is properly the cactus opuntia, 
is occasionally known as the Indian-fig, or prickly- 
pear. The tree which produces it grows from ten 
to twenty feet in height : its leaves, from the sides 
of which the fruit springs, are thick and succulent, 

* Voyage dans la Regence cTAlger, tome i. pp. 180, 181. 



444 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



and impregnated with a mucilaginous juice, so pe- 
culiarly cooling as to be used with gum-ammonica 
in cases of inflammation. When ripe, the fig, or 
pear, is of an oval form, with a colour inclining to 
yellow, and is chiefly valued for its effect in restor- 
ing the power of the digestive organs when derang- 
ed by the heat of the climate. 

The hashisha, or African hemp-plant, is very ge- 
nerally cultivated in the western parts of the Bar- 
bary States, not so much for its use in the manu- 
facture of cordage, as for those qualities in which it 
resembles opium. The leaves, but more especially 
the seeds and flowers, called kief, are smoked by the 
natives, who are said to derive from it an oblivion 
of all their cares, and the most delightful excitement 
of the imagination. Those who have been long ac- 
customed to its use cannot exist without it. The 
kief is usually pounded and mixed with a confection, 
called " elmogin," which is sold at an exorbitant 
price. A piece of it as large as a walnut will deprive 
a man of all the ordinary powers of reason, and is 
much preferred to opium from the voluptuous sensa- 
tions which it never fails to produce. Wine or 
brandy, they maintain, cannot stand in competition 
with it. The leaves are dried and cut like tobacco, 
with which they are smoked in very small pipes ; 
but when an individual wishes to indulge in the 
sensual stupor it occasions, he smokes the hashisha 
pure, and in less than half an hour he fancies him- 
self an emperor and master of the whole world, of all 
its wealth, and its pleasures. 

Euphorbium, called furbiune by the Arabs, is a 
gum produced by a very succulent plant growing on 
the Atlas Mountains, and known in the country by 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



445 



the name of dergmuse. In its general form it re- 
sembles a large goblet, and is somewhat like a wild 
thistle. From the main body of the stem proceed 
several leafless branches,, about an inch in diameter, 
from the top of which shoot out similar ones, each 
bearing on its summit a vivid crimson flower. 
These branches are scolloped, and have on their 
outer sides small knots, from which grow five ex- 
tremely sharp thorns, about one- third of an inch in 
length, apparently intended by nature to prevent 
cattle from eating this caustic plant, so perilous to 
animal life. When it assumes this aspect it may be 
considered mature ; upon which the natives dwell- 
ing in the lower parts of the Atlas make incisions 
in it with a knife. From these the juice issues in 
considerable quantities, and after being dried by the 
sun, contracts a yellowish colour, and is fit for being 
gathered in the shape of euphorbium, — a medicinal 
drug of the very highest power. The plant produces 
only once in four years ; but the supply notwith- 
standing is fully equal to the demand ; the cathar- 
tic quality being rather too vigorous for European 
practice. The persons who collect this gum are 
obliged to tie a cloth over their mouth and nostrils, 
to prevent the small particles from annoying them 
by entering the brain or stomach. 

We are informed that the bark of the dergmuse is 
greatly valued by tanners, and that to its singular 
effects the leather of Morocco owes its chief pre-emi- 
nence. Various attempts have been made to trans- 
plant it to the neighbourhood of the capital, but hi- 
therto, owing to some difference in the soil or cli- 
mate, without any degree of success. It grows most 
luxuriantly in mountainous situations, interspersed 



446 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



with rocks,, and where the interstices are filled with 
a black loam chiefly formed of decomposed vege- 
tables.* 

The silphium, well known to the botanists and 
epicures of antiquity, is only to be found in the east- 
ern parts of the Tripoline dominions, where also it 
is fast becoming extremely scarce, owing to the pains 
taken by the Bedouins to extirpate it, under the im- 
pression that it is hurtful to their cattle. In fact, it 
is believed by some writers to have entirely disap- 
peared, while others see good reason to identify it 
with the spaghe, a weed which causes a great mor- 
tality among camels. According to Theophrastus, 
the silphium has a thick fleshy root, perennial and 
medicinal : its stem is formed like that of the papy- 
rus and the ferula, equalling this last in thickness ; 
while its leaves resemble those of the selinum or Ma- 
cedonian parsley. It is found, he adds, at Cyrene, 
and principally in the environs of the Syrtis, near 
the Gardens of the Hesperides.t 

The medicinal qualities of this plant have been 
greatly extolled by Pliny, who states that the extract, 
called laser, usually brought its weight in silver, and 
was kept in the public treasury along with the pre- 
cious metals. On one occasion, when Julius Caesar 
was making preparations for war, it was sold for the 
service of the commonwealth, and considered a prin- 
cipal resource of the public revenue. It is certain, 
too, that all the ancients agreed in describing the 
Cyrenaica as the peculiar country of the silphium ; 
and we learn also from the Greek naturalist, that it 

* Jackson's Morocco, p. 80. 

•f* Histor. Plant lib. iv. and lib. vi. passim^ quoted by Delia 
Ceila, p. 129. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



447 



was inconceivably averse to every other soil, and 
could not be transplanted without the hazard of loss.* 

In the work of Captain Beechey, the vegetable 
now mentioned is said to be about three feet in 
height, and to have a strong resemblance to the hem- 
lock, or more properly perhaps to the daucas, or wild 
carrot. It appears to have been found in Asia, as 
well as in some parts of Europe ; but that of Cy- 
rene was the most esteemed, and constituted a valu- 
able article of commerce. In the time of Pliny, it 
had become so scarce in the market, that a single 
stalk of it was given to the Emperor Nero, as a pre- 
sent suitable to a person of his rank. The extract 
and the stem or root, — the laser and laserpitium of 
the naturalist, — are mentioned in the bill of fare of 
the Persian monarchs, as given by Polynseus, and 
which was discovered by Alexander the Great, en- 
graved on a brazen column in the royal palace. As 
to the appearance of the extract, we have no infor- 
mation; but the stem and the root seem to have 
been eaten much in the same way that we eat ce- 
lery, — which, indeed, it very much resembles, — - 
either stewed or boiled.t 

We have already mentioned that the climate of 
Barbary is free from those extremes and sudden 
changes which characterize the atmospherical phe- 
nomena of Europe. The air is wholesome and tem- 
perate, neither too hot in summer nor too cold in 
winter ; and the successive seasons fall so insensibly 
into one another, that the transition is not felt by 
the most delicate constitution. During twelve years 
that Dr Shaw spent in the country, the thermome- 



* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xviii. p. 3. Narrative, p. 132. 
•f Proceedings of the Expedition, &c. p. 412-416. 



448 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



ter only twice descended to the freezing-point ; on 
both which occasions the hills were covered with 
snow ; and the air was never sultry, except when 
the wind blew from the Desert. The barometer, 
again, amid all the revolutions of the weather, did 
not vary more than an inch and three-tenths ; rising 
with the north wind, although there were heavy 
rains, and falling with the south, whatever might be 
the condition of the atmosphere as to moisture. 

The average quantity of rain marked annually 
at Algiers is about 28 inches, beginning usually in 
autumn, and continuing at intervals till the month 
of May. Little or none is enjoyed during the sum- 
mer ; and in most parts of the Sahara, particularly 
in the Jerid, there is seldom any rain at all. These 
observations apply generally to the districts along the 
Mediterranean shore, but must be subjected to some 
modification when referred to the territories of Mo- 
rocco, owing as well to the vicinity of the mountains 
as of the Atlantic Ocean, which washes its western 
border.* 



* Travels in Barbary, vol. i. p. '244. Voyage dans la Regence 
d'Alger, tome i. p. 83-137. 



INDEX. 



A. 

Abdallah, lieutenant of Caliph 
Othman, invades Africa, 114. 

Africa, Northern, division of, accord- 
ing to Herodotus, 22. Commerce 
of, 404. Physical advantages of 
numerous, 417. Geology of, illus- 
trated by French writers, 420. 
Extent of, according to several au- 
thors, 85. 

iEneas supposed to touch the shores 
of Carthage, 29. 

vEtius, dispute with Bonifacius, 96, 
whom he slays, 99. 

Agadeer, notice of, 397. 

Aglabites, foundation of the dynasty 
of the, 120. 

Agriculture encouraged by the Car- 
thaginians, 33. 

Akbah invades Barbary States, 115. 
His great success, 116. He builds 
Kairwan, a mosque, and palace, ib. 

Al Bereton, description of, 154. 

Alexander the Great, resentment 
of, against the Carthaginians, for 
assisting the people of Tyre, 38. 

Algiers, origin of the term, 314. Ex- 
tent of territory, 315. City de- 
scribed, 316. Gardens near, 321. 
Attacked unsuccessfully by Charles 
V., 325. French attack, 333. At- 
tack by the Americans, 335. Trea- 
ty of James II. with, 336. Corsairs 
of, ib. Cruel conduct of the dey, 

337. Expedition of Lord Exmouth, 

338. Invaded by the French, 342. 
State of modern, 345. Power of 
the dey, 346. Government of, 
347. Revenue of, 348. Quarrel 
with Tunis, 349. Climate of, 369. 
Attempts at colonization, ib. 
Plan of colonies at, 370, 404. Ra- 
pacity of the dey, 411. Trade of, 
414. Imports at, 415. 

Almamoun, science and learning pa- 
tronized by, 143. Collects the 
works of the Greek philosophers 
to be translated into the language 



of Arabia, 144, Praised by Abul- 

pharagius, ib. 
Almohades, sect of, 381. 
Amber, trade of Carthaginians in, 

70, 74. 

Americans desire to form a colony in 
Barbary, but are compelled to de- 
sist from the attempt, 159. 

Apollonia, ruins of, once a Grecian 
port, 167. Magnificent relics, 168. 

Arabs, discoveries in science by, 147. 
Habits of those in the Desert, 
218. Resemble the Scottish High- 
landers, 242. Curious village of, 
near the Atlas range, 243. 

Arar, wells excavated near, 221. 

Aristippus, doctrines of, 129. 

Arzillah, the Julia Traducta of the 
Romans, account of, 393. 

Asia, emigrants from to Northern 
Africa, 26. 

Atlantic, extent of navigation by the 
Carthaginians, 77. Opinions of 
various authors, by some of whom 
it is maintained they discovered 
the New World, ib. 

Atlas, Little, extent of, 425. Iron 
mines in, 378. Volcanic rocks, 428. 

Atlas, Mount, range and extent of, 
23, 375. Geological formation of, 
not yet minutely examined, 420. 
Organic remains, ib. 

Augustin, St, character of, 136. Made 
Bishop of Hippo Regius, the mo- 
dern Bona, ib. Defends it against 
Genseric and the Vandals, 137. 
His numerous writings, genius, 
theological opinions, and death, 
137, 138. 

Augustus Caesar, Carthage renewed 
under the direction of, 87. 

B. 

Barbarossa, two brothers of this 
name, Horuc and Hayradin, 267. 
Become formidable pirates, ib. 
Horuc defeated and slain, 269. 
Hayradin acknowledges the Grand 

2 E 



450 



INDEX. 



Seignior, and prepares to attack 
Tunis, 270. Provokes the resent- 
ment of Charles V., who makes 
preparations for war, 272. Tunis 
falls into the hands of the Spa- 
niards, 273. Hayradin is defeated, 
and flees to Bona, 275. Fights un- 
der the banners of Francis I. in 
Italy, 277. 
Barbary States, contrast between 
their ancient and present condi- 
tion, 17. Ancient manners of the 
inhabitants, 18. Remains of for- 
mer magnificence, 19. Revolu- 
tions sudden and entire, 20. Coun- 
tries comprehended in, 22. Divi- 
sion of, according to Herodotus, ib. 
Origin of the term, 25. Monu- 
ments which denote an Eastern 
people, 27. Inroad of Arabs, 121. 
Religion and learning of, 124. 
Christianity introduced, 130, 132. 
Decay of Christianity, 140-143. 
Libraries, 144-147. Education, 150. 
Zoology, 432. Metals, ib. Birds, 
440. 

Barca, desert of, 22. Description 
of district and town, 191. More an- 
cient than the Greek colonies, ib. 
Supposed to have been founded by 
the brother of Dido ; but built by 
the brothers of Arcesilaus, king 
of Cyrene, ib. 

Bedouins, description of, 242. 

Belisarius, Roman army led by, 107. 
Triumph of, 111. 

Bengazi, description of, 200. Mar- 
ket at, 407. 

Bengerwad, Cape of, tower near, 216. 

Blake, Admiral, gallant and success- 
ful attack on Tunis by, 252. 

Bomba, Gulf of, 155. 

Bon, Cape, country in the vicinity 
of, 303. 

Bona, description of, 352. The an- 
cient Hippo Regius, 136. 

Bonifacius, Vandals invited by, 96. 
Death of, 99. 

Braiga, account of, 212. 

Britain, tin-mines of, 70. Early in- 
tercourse of Carthaginians with, 
70, 72. Southern coasts visited, 72. 

Bujeya, notice of, 355. 

Byzacium, towns in, 307. 

C. 

Cahina, Queen,Moors headed by,l 17. 
Camels first naturalized in Barbary, 
122. 

Carthage, foundation of, 28. Am- 
bitious views of, 31. Extent of 
territory, ib. Tribes subject to, 
or in alliance with, 34. First at- 
tempt on Sicily and Sardinia, 36. 



Besieged, 38. Fall of, 47, 81, 101. 
Hatred of Cato, 45. Constitution 
of, 59. Kings of, 64. Trade of, 66. 
Intercourse with Spain, 69. Na- 
vigation of, 77. Literature of, 78. 
Wealth and civilisation of the in- 
habitants, 79. 
Carthage, New, description of, 88. 
Remains in the neighbourhood, 
298. Account of by Gibbon, 299. 
Description of by Chateaubriand, 
302. 

Ceuta, account of, 391. 

Charax, ruins of, 216. 

Charles V., expedition against Tunis 
by, 272. His immense prepara- 
tions and complete success, 273, 
275. His attack on Algiers, and 
subsequent disasters, 325-330. 

Cinyphus, bridge across the, 227. 

Clybea,the Kalibia of the Latins,303. 

Constantina, account of, 353. 

Corsica, chief exports of, 69. 

Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, 133. 
His great learning and talents, ib. 
Value of his works, 134. Is perse- 
cuted by the Emperor Valerian, 
ib. ; and put to death, 135. 

Cyrene, history of, 162. Govern- 
ment, 164. Situation, 170. Tombs, 
172, 179. Remains of theatre, 175- 
177. Fiction of petrified village 
near, 181. Fountain at, 186. Geo- 
logical structure of the mountains, 
421. 

D. 

Delia Cella, opinion of as to the 

salt-marshes, 225. 
Derna, description of, 157-160. 
Donatists, persecution of, 96. 

E. 

Edrisi, description of Carthage bv, 
300. 

Elba, iron-mines of, 69. 
El effah, poisonous snake, 434. 
Elissa, or Dido, story of, 28. 
Eudoxia, wife of Hunneric, 105. 
Euphorbium, juice of, 445. 
Exmouth, Lord, attack of on Al- 
giers, 338. 

F. 

Fatimites, rise of the, 121 . Promote 
learning, 144. Extent of royal 
library at Kairwan and Alexan- 
dria, 145. 

Festus Avienus, poem of, 70. 

Fetichism, origin of, 125. 

Fez, original country of the Moors, 
86. Climate and soil of, 376. City 
of, 399. 

Fezzan, situation of, 255. Climate 



INDEX. 



451 



of, 256. Population, ib. Com- 
merce of, 257. 

Firmus, usurpation of, 91. 

France, occupation of Algiers by,373. 

G. 

Gabes, population of, 309. 

Gelimer, usurpation of, 107. Sur- 
renders to the Romans, 111. 

Genoa, ancient treaty with Barbary 
in the archives of, 408. 

Genseric, conduct of, 96. Destroys 
Carthage, 101. Persecutes Chris- 
tians, ib. Invades Italy, 103. 
Death, 106. 

Ghimines, remains of forts at, 211. 

Ghurba, notice of, 304. 

Gildo, history of, 93. 

Gilma, site of, 311. 

Giraff, salt marsh or lake at, 221 . 

Gorbata, salt-water marsh near, 311. 

H. 

Hadjoute, plain of, 360. 

Hajjis, attack of freebooters on, 156. 

Hamet the Great, cruelty and 
treachery of, 254. 

Hamilco, voyage of to the islands 
of Britain, 70. 

Hammamet, account of, 304. Mau- 
soleum near, ib. 

Hamza, castle of, 357. 

Hannibal, character of, 40. Recall- 
ed, 43. Defeated at Zama, 44. 

Hanno, expedition of, 75. 

Hassan, defeat of, 117. 

Hassan, dynasty of, first ascended 
the throne of Morocco, 382. 

Hassan Aga, conduct of, 324. 

Heirie, desert-camel, 438. 

Heraclian, rebellion of, 95. 

Herodotus, account of merchants of 
Carthage by, 80. 

Hesperides, gardens of, 204. 

Hiero, king of Syracuse, Carthagi- 
nians interpose in behalf of, 38. 

Homer, fine tribute to the genius of, 
48. 

I. 

Innane, encampments of, 357. 
J. 

Jarbas, rebellion of, 49. 
Jemme, ruins of, 310. 
Jerba, island of, 309. 
Jol, or Julia Caesarea, description of, 
364. 

Joshua, son of Nun, described as a 

robber, 26. 
Juba, crown of Numidia given to, 51 . 
Juba (the younger), character of, 

53, 128. 

Jugurtha, history of, 48. Compels 
Romans to pass under the yoke, 50. 



Julia Traducta, modern Arzillah, 
393. 

Jurjura, Mount, notice of, 356. 

Justinian,last contest between Rome 
and Carthage under, 107. State 
of the country in the time of, 



rv. 

Kairwan,foundationof,116. Mosque 
at, 309. 

Keff, remains of art found at, 306. 
L. 

La Cala, settlement of, long possess- 
ed by the French, 352. Coral 
fishery at, 353. 

Lactantius, works of, 135. Called 
the Christian Cicero, ib. Was tutor 
to a son of Constantine, ib. 

Larache, or El Haratch, account of, 
393. 

Lebida, ruins of, examined by Cap- 
tain Smyth, 228. 

Leo, Pope, armament fitted out 
by, for the redemption of Chris- 
tian captives, 106. 

Leo Africanus, opinion of, as to the 
term Barbary, 25 ; and as to Me- 
surata, 225. 

Lipara, famous for the production 
of resin, 68. 

Louis IX. descent on Tunis by, 265. 
Sufferings of his army, 266. His 
sickness and death, 267. 

Lyon, Captain, account of the ser- 
pent-eaters by, 258. 

M. 

Madeira,mention of by Diodorus,76. 
Mago, house of, 60, 62. Works of, 78, 
Mahedia, remarks on, 307. 
Mahiriga, remains at, 215. 
Malta, beautiful cloths made at, 68. 
Mansel, Sir R., expedition of against 

Algiers, 335. 
Marabut Sidi, ruin of, 192. 
Marcius, repulsed by Carthaginians, 

46. 

Marius, seen at ruins of Carthage, 52. 

Marjorian, proposed invasion of Car- 
thage by, 104. 

Marseilles, Greek colony at, 69. 

Masinissa unites with Scipio against 
Carthage, 42. 

Matafuz, Cape, geological structure 
of, 428. 

Mauritania, division into two sec- 
tions, 55. 

Medinet Sultan, outline of fortifica- 
tions at, 217. Once an important 
military station, ib. Remains of 
ancient town, ib. 

Mediterranean,encroachmentsof,on 
the shores of N. Africa, 169. 



452 



INDEX. 



Meheduma, or Mamora, town in a 
neglected state, 394. Magnificent 
plain in the vicinity of, ib. 

Melilla, notice of, 390. 

Mequinez, description of, 401. One 
of the capitals of Morocco, 402. 
Contains a splendid palace, ib. 
Manners of inhabitants mild and 
courteous, ib. 

Merge, plain of, 190, 193. 

Mesurata, account of, 223, 226. 

Metijah, plain of described, 360. 

Mileu, the Milevum of the ancients, 
description of, 354. 

Mogadore, description of, 396. Im- 
ports at, 416. Method of keeping 
accounts at, 417. 

Moors, civilisation in Northern 
Africa destroyed by, 113. Con- 
quered by the "Moslem, 118. Cha- 
racter of modern, 289. Destitute 
of taste, 288. 

Morabeth, sect of, called also Almo- 
ravides, 380. Fury of their inva- 
sions, 381. Their objects not less 
political than religious, ib. Su- 
perseded by the Almohades, ib. 

Morocco, extent of empire. 374. Cli- 
mate, 376, 397. Jews, 378, 388. 
Population, 379. History of the 
empire, 380. Variety of tribes, 
383. Government, ib. Manners 
of, 385. Domestic customs, 386. 
Religion, 388. Revenue, 389. De- 
scription of the city, 398. 

Mostagan, gardens near, 364. 

Muktar, trade in sulphur at, 215. 

Muley Hassan deposed, 271. Re- 
stored, 276. 

Mustapha Pasha, aqueduct of, 366. 
The stvle of architecture peculiar, 
ib. 

N. 

Nabal, notice of, 304. 

Naples, vessels belonging to, em- 
ployed in fishery at Bona, 339. 
Dey of Algiers retires to, 344. 

Narbbrough, Sir John, attacks Tri- 
poli, 253. 

O. 

Ommiades, dynasty of, expelled from 
the throne' of Spain. 381. 

Oran, town of, 360. Described by 
M. Rozet, ib. Possession long 
contested by Spaniards and Moors, 
ib. Occupies two platforms, ib. 
Inhabitants fled from French, 363. 

O'Reillv, expedition of against Al- 
giers/ 332. 

P. 

Pentapolis, origin of the name, 162. 



Persians land in Africa, and use 
their ships for houses, 26. 

Phoenicians, colonies founded by on 
the coasts of Africa and Spain, 
27. 

Pianura, or plain near Tripoli, de- 
scription of, 244. Bears luxuriant 
crops, and is sometimes like a sea 
of sand shifting from place to 
place, ib. 

Placidia, her influence in the go- 
vernment of the West, 96. 

Pliny, opinion of as to the course of 
the Nile and Niger, 128. 

Polybius, remark of, 32. Singular 
fact mentioned by, 58. 

Pompey defeats Jarbas, a sheik of 
Numidia, 49. Conflict in Barbary 
between Ceesar and, 52. 

Procopius, anecdote recorded by, 26. 

Psvlli, or serpent-eaters, account of, 
258. 

Ptolemeta,Ptolemais of ancient wri- 
ters and Dolmeita of the Arabs, 
description of, 193. Great strength 
of walls, 194. Style of architec- 
ture at, 196. Magnificent dormi- 
tory or mausoleum, 197. 

Ptolemy, son of Juba, history of, 54. 

O. 

Queen Cahina, her pretensions and 
extravagance, 117. Her death,118. 

Questions decided by Carthaginian 
people when kings and senate 
could not agree, 61. 

R. 

Rabat, situation of, 395. Remains 

of castle near, ib. 
Regulus, Carthage besieged by, 38. 

Patriotism of, 39. 
Romans, mercenary conduct of, 90. 
Roman towns, vestiges of, 359. 
Rozet, M., his work on Algiers, 420. 

S. 

Sachrin, situation of, 213. 
Saguntum, taking of, by Hannibal, 

occasioned the second* Punic war, 

40. 

Sahara, extent of, 24. Tribes in 
vicinity of, 357. Conjectures as 
to the origin of, 422, 427. 

Sallee, description of, 394. 

Sallecto, remains of castle at, 308. 

Saracens, invasion by, 114. 

Sardinia, first attempt of Carthagi- 
nians on, 36. 

Scandinavia, amber plentiful at, 73. 

Schella, site of, 395. 

Science introduced into Africa, 139, 
146. Decay of, 151. 

Scillv Islands, mentioned by Festus 



INDEX. 



453 



Avienus, 70. No traces of the 

mines to be found on, 74. 
Scipio invades Africa, 41. 
Scipio Emilianus destroys Carthage, 

47. 

Selim II., Moorish dynasty ended 

by, 278. 
Sert, supposed site of, 221. 
Sfaitla, splendid ruins near, 310. 
Sicily, first attempt of Carthaginians 

on, 36. 

Siwah, site of the temple of Jupiter 
Ammon, 257. 

Sophonisba, romantic tale of, 43. 

Spain, mines of, enabled Carthagi- 
nians to pay armies, &c, 40. In- 
tercourse of Carthaginians with, 69. 
Expedition of against Algiers, 330. 

Stilicho, his wisdom and bravery, 94. 

SufTetes, Carthaginian rulers, 64. 
Their duties, ib. 

Susa, notice of, 307, 309. 

Syracuse, Carthaginian traders set- 
tled at, 68. 

Syrtis, Greater, soil in the neigh- 
bourhood of, 214. 

T. 

Tabilba, remains of castle at, 212. 
Tacfarinas, rebellion of, 54. 
Tagiura, country around, 232. 
Tangier, notice of, 392. 
Tefessad, notice of, 365. 
Terodant, account of, 401. 
Tetuan, situation of, 390. 
Teuchira, description of, 197. Ruins 

of Christian churches at, 199. 
Tezzoute, ruins near, 354. 
Theodosius sent to repel the Moors, 

92. 

Tin, sought by the Carthaginians in 
Britain, Spain, and Gaul, 70, 74. 

Titteri, rock of, 356. 

Tlemsan, towns in the province of, 
358. Town of, ib. 

Tripoli, besieged by tribes of the 
Desert, 90. Limits of the pasba- 
lic, 209. Origin of the name, 233. 
Triumphal arch, 238. Admini- 
stration of justice, 247. Visit of 
an English lady to the court of, 
248. Conquered by Charles V., 
252. Principal officers of state, 255. 
Exports, 408. Imports, 409. 

Tripolines, character of, 235. Man- 
ners, 241-261, Houses of, 244. 



Tubersoke, form of, 306. 

Tuburbo, notice of, 305. 

Tunis, Carthaginians repair to, 30. 
Extent of the pashalic, 263. Go- 
vernment, 264. Expedition of 
Charles V. against, 272. End of 
the Moorish dynasty at, 278. First 
dey elected, ib. First monarch, 
ib. Authority of the bey, 280. 
Attacked by Admiral Blake, 281. 
Situation, ib. Climate, 283. Pre- 
sent condition, 284-295. Supersti- 
tion of inhabitants, 285. Singular 
custom at, 287. Anecdotes of the 
late bey, 290, 294. Population, 291 . 
Revenue, 293. Aqueduct near, 
296. Account of small towns in 
the pashalic of, 304. Quarrel be- 
tween Algiers and, 349. Com- 
merce, 409. Cause of the decline 
of trade, 41 1 . Method of keeping 
accounts, 413. Intercourse with 
England, ib. 

Tyre, affinity to Carthage, 30. 

U. 

Utica, site of, can no longer be de- 
termined, 303. 

V. 

Valentinian, conduct of, 91. 

Vandals first appear in Northern 
Africa, 96. 

Velez, or Belis, notice of, 390. 

Vienna, determination of the Euro- 
pean powers at the Congress of, 
338. 

W. 

Wady Khahan, 227. 

X. 

Ximenes, Cardinal, advice of, to the 
King of Spain, 330. 

Z. 

ZafFran, description of, by Delia 

Cella, 218. 
Zama, battle of, 44. 
Zeirites, rise of, 121. 
Zeliten, description of, 226. 
Zeugitania, cape in the vicinity of, 

302. 

Zowan, remains of the grand aque- 
duct near, 296. 
Zoology, 432. 



THE END. 



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5 



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